Peoples and Empires: A Short History of European Migration, Exploration, and Conquest, from Greece to the Present

by Anthony Pagden

Peoples and Empires is the story of the great European empires – the Roman, the Spanish, the French, the British – and their colonies, and the back-and-forth between “us” and “them,” culture and nature, civilization and barbarism, the center and the periphery. It relates the history of how conquerors justified conquest, and how colonists and colonized changed each other. It’s about how we came to think about world divisions the way we do. Written by the man who has been called the world’s foremost historian of human migration, Peoples and Empires will become a seminal work.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World History, Politics, European History

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Anthony Pagden was educated in Santiago (Chile), London, Barcelona and Oxford and holds a B.A.. M.A. and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. He has been a free-lance translator and a publisher in Paris a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, Senior Research Fellow of the Warburg Institute (London), Professor of History at the European University Institute (Florence), University Reader in Intellectual History and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge and the Harry C. Black Professor of History at Johns Hopkins. He joined UCLA in the Fall of 2002. His research has concentrated on the relationship between the peoples of Europe and its overseas settlements and those of the non-European world from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He is primarily interested in the political theory of empire, in how the West sought to explain to itself how and why it had come to dominate so much of the world, and in the present consequences of the erosion of that domination. His research has led to an interest in the formation of the modern concept of Europe and most recently in the roots of the conflict between the ‘West’ and the (predominantly Muslim) ‘East’. He has also written on the history of law, and on the ideological sources of the independence movements in Spanish-America, and is currently completing a book on cosmopolitanism and the Enlightenment . He has written or edited some fifteen books, the most recent of which are, Lords of all the World. Ideologies of Empire in Britain, France and Spain (1995), Peoples and Empires (2001), La Ilustración y sus enemigos (2002), Worlds at War, The 2500 year struggle between East and West (2008), and, as editor, The Idea of Europe from Antiquity to the European Union (2002). – all of which have been translated into several European and Asian languages. He is a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, and The London Review of Books, and has written for The New Republic, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Il Sole 24 Ore (Milan), El Mundo (Spain), El Pais, (Spain) and La Nueva Provincia (Argentina).

He teaches classes in the history of political thought from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, in the theory of international relations, and seminars on imperialism and nationalism and on the theory of racism and ethnicity since antiquity.

Reviews

[Miltiadis Michalopoulos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good introduction on the European Conquest of the East and the New World. It is a concise history of the European colonialism. It starts with Alexander the Great's Empire, continues with the Roman Empire but it examines more thoroughly the seagoing empires like the Spanish and of course the British Empire. The transformation of the empires is very interesting; they were ruthless and harsh [Spanish Empire] but later their attitude changed; The French, the Dutch, and the British empires [ especially the last two] were founded to be "empires of liberty," but derived much of their wealth and power from the exploitation of slave labor. However, they wanted rather to extend their market in the new countries instead of conquering them by sword. A very well written overview for the average reader.

[Supriyo Chaudhuri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brief but deep sweep of the history of the empire and what it means today. Beautifully written, the book explores the imperial 'idea' in all its variety and complexity, comparing and contrasting various European empires through the ages. It was perhaps never meant to be a comprehensive history, bit if it did, the main criticism would be that it leaves the Asian, Middle Eastern and South American empires on the side, mentioning them from time to time, but not integrating them into the analysis. And, even if a comprehensive history of Empire was never its purpose, this oversight somewhat affects the attempt of understanding the contemporary postcolonial imagination; those old empires were swept away by modern European ones, but lived in the imagination more persistently and shaped the modern consciousness in a more substantial way than this book portrays.

[TRE · Rating 1 out of 5]

3/10

Only giving it any points because Pagden is well-read in his field so his references and technical knowledge are spot on, but he's 1619 Project Lite from 25 years ago.

Very disjointed structure overall. First third was inoffensive rehashes of Wikipedia articles making you wonder why this was even written.

Middle third is him saying America revolved around slavery and how the transatlantic slave trade was "uniquely awful" [sic] even though he freely acknowledges Africans sold their own people, and both them and Muslims continued to deal in slaves well after Europeans and their descendants found the practice abhorrent.

Last third is him doubling down, saying racists don't have a foot to stand on because it's ACKCHUALLY just all "culture," but please don't ask him where culture comes from! This one aside is so funny because numerous other things he cites have footnotes, but this paean to "race isn't real, it's well-documented" has no sources-- curious!

Bonus self-hating White libtard points for defending sati/suttee (widow burning) by claiming Victorians were only interested in banning the abhorrent practice by THEY "sexualized" it LMAO unreal levels of projection to think White men were randomly sexualizing Indian women and not the other way around, now that we live in a global digital age and Indian men are posting "show bob" to paintings of naked White women.

Can't wait to throw away this free book.

[Aran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo leí estando de vacaciones y me quedaban 30 páginas cuando tuve que devolverlo a la biblioteca 😅 Pero le doy 3 estrellas, tiene algunos datos interesantes pero al ser tan corto está todo muy poco desarrollado y presentado desde una sola perspectiva, lo cual siempre deja que desear en un libro de historia cuando se trata un tema tan amplio y complejo como el de este libro.

[Donald Linnemeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a lot of fun. In just over 150 pages, Pagden offers a history of empire since Alexander the Great, and he does so without ignoring nuance and detail. He has a gift for picking the right pace, for choosing when to focus on details and when to fly through hundreds of years in a few paragraphs. Nothing ground-breaking or anything, but a really pleasant read.

Though the epilogue, hastily tacked on after 9-11, was atrocious and did manage to sacrifice nuance. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth after the rest of the book, so I'd avoid it altogether.

[Khadijah · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are not well-verse with the great ancient empires and history of the West, you may find it difficult to grasp the content of the book. Mr Pagden drops in numerous famous figures of the Western World on average 3-5 new people per page sometimes without introducing the readers to them. Nevertheless, this book for people who are aware of the history of the Western World may find it a breeze and may find it a useful guide to connect together the stories of the great empires (even though it is not comprehensive).

[Emmanuel-francis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This very dated book was written at the height of a frenzied Clash of Civilisations with Islam. That's old hat. The epilogue needs changing for the current frenzied Clash of Civilisations with China.

I kid. Beat most of your scythes into ploughshares, people!

I consider it to be a valuable introduction to the subject of Empire. Yes, its attendant triumphalism is unavoidable. But I can not think of a better imperial primer. With accessible prose in a slim volume, Professor Pagden traces the trajectory and cycles culminating in the present American hegemony.

What I found most valuable was how the author's editorial choices allow the careful reader to tease out minute, but nonetheless important, differences in such concepts as Empire and Colony or Imperialism for that matter. Further, one can discern distinct versions of empire, allowing the reader to note the difference between Alexander conquering Persepolis and American Marines storming into Baghdad. Polemicists often elide the difference and pretend that Iraq's 3 million barrels per day were the difference between genteel poverty and imperial splendour for the Americans, as it had been for Alexander's Macedonia.

Alexander had left numerous colonies in his day. Yet, like Ozymandias in the sand, just their half-sunk visage remains. Such was the fate of most of the numerous colonies planted by Europeans overseas between the Early Modern era and the Industrial Age. Note, that I use colonies in its proper sense as, literally, a plantation of foreign settlers and not a synonym for an imperial province as is typically used today.

The simple reason why most surviving colonies have not been erased or assimilated is the benevolent protection of the American Imperial System, the present-day hegemon. It's amusing to see the author portray that reality as implying the continuation of an imagined Western dominance. And I scratch my head trying to imagine someone telling Spaniards before the 21st century that the Anglophone wolves chomping down chunks of their map from Cromwell's Eastern Design to the American liberation of The Philippines were a part of the rise of the West. Clearly, revanche was not the watchword for the French at the height of their economic and cultural brilliance because they saw the Germans as co-drivers in the Rise of the West.

That's a headscratcher in a History of Empire. The reality is that as Xia gave way to Shang and Athens to Rome so too has the decline of European Empires redounded to the standard of the Imperial Eagle on Capitol Hill. That the Europeans choose to defend that empire makes them Varangian Guards not born in purple. No more than the Japan's reverse course from contesting American hegemony suddenly makes the Children of the Sun Goddess heirs of Plato. Never the twain to meet and all that.

Despite the Eurocoap elision, this book is valuable for what it easily demonstrates: the history of interacting civilisations is inevitably one of empire. You either have one, don't mind your subjection to one, are building one or would rather die free than slave.

Some of those scythes will be of use, I guess.

[Alfredo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para quien desee acercarse, de forma rápida y sin demasiadas complicaciones, a la comprensión de los procesos que llevaron a la construcción, el desarrollo y la caída de los imperios más importantes que ha habido a lo largo de la historia de la humanidad, la obra de Pagden es, sin duda, una buena puerta de entrada. El gran «pero» del texto es que la atención que le brinda a las naciones occidentales no se lo da al resto. Esto, que en sí mismo no es censurable, se convierte en un problema cuando aparecen inexactitudes o juicios apresurados, como sucede con los pueblos mesoamericanos. Salvo por este detalle, el libro de deja leer y, lo mejor de todo, informa de modo ameno, que es de lo que suele tratarse cuando se aproxima uno a esta clase de materiales.

¿Recomendable? Sí, pero sin perder de vista lo indicado.

[Mark McTague · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the history of the idea and practice of empire and the changing intellectual, social, political, and economic forces that reshaped it over time, from Rome to the modern day. The reader should know, however, that the focus in on western empires, so the Chinese, Indian, Persian, and Ottoman empires, to name a few, are not a direct part of the discussion. Nevertheless, this short work is packed with information and insights, and for younger readers unfamiliar with western empires, it should be especially useful and rewarding of a careful reading.

[Seamusin · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an eloquent introduction. It drew me in somewhat misleadingly as the rest of the book was a little straighter and less crafted. But I stayed to soak up what turned out to be a nice short history of the world. Nothing much revelatory but good to re-fire the synapses.

Would keep in mind as a present or introductory recommendation.

[Omar Garrido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un repaso de la historia de la conquista de Europa y las Americas. Un breve libro que ayuda a refrescar toda esa información sobre conquistas, esclavitud, rutas marítimas y todo lo relacionado con las potencias europeas. Tuve un pequeño bloqueo de lectura, pero al final logré terminar este libro y disfruté mucho cada página

[Chris Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was too short.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pagden addresses European imperialism, drawing on the pre-European precedents of Greece and especially Rome.

[Crissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and short introduction to 'empire' and how the notion of 'empire' was desired, supported and applied throughout history by the various progenitors. A longer version would be worth it.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim volume on a vast topic. Some interesting points made.

[Iván Casado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un enfoque diferente y original de la historia de la humanidad. Quizá demasiado eurocentrico pero es ameno de leer y ayuda a pensar.

[Lauren Goldstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

had to read this for a class I am no longer taking. I think I may have enjoyed it if I didn't have to read it. For a school book, it wasn't bad. Relatively easy to understand and even semi-interesting at some points.

[Scotty G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peoples and empires by Anthony Pagden I’d say is more concerned with the latter in the sense that this book is a telling of the history of the world from the European standpoint politically as opposed to an image of what it was like for day to day peoples throughout history. If your concerned with that I’d suggest a different book probably, however if you’re interested in reading the history of the world from the Western European standpoint primarily through a political lens I’d say this book does a great job. That was one of my primary reasons for reading about history and so I found this was a fantastic book to read and I’m so glad I read it. I’ll be reading it back and referring back to it again for sure in the future.

Depending on your level of knowledge already would decide how much you’d have to pay attention while reading, in my case as someone who is a novice in history literature on my own I’m going to have to read it back one or two more times to get the idea in full however I do believe that he logically tells the story well enough and introduces significant figures with enough detail that anyone who pays attention can follow along for sure without having to know a vast encyclopedic or wide knowledge of people like Charles the V or even Alexander the Great as he describes them perfectly in line with the story for you to infer their place and story in part, so I’d go so far as to say anybody can read this and follow along quite easily.

Enough said I think this was a great read and I’m glad I read it. I highly recommend it if you want to understand the history of the world through a political lens in the context of the west.

[Natasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m a bit astonished that a book purporting to give even a brief overview of the history of Empires entirely omits the country of Ireland from its chronology, its index, and gives it only a passing mention in its content. I find myself debating whether the author is deliberately ignoring the historic importance of Ireland to the British Empire (the first country to effectively put an end to the Empire, paving the way for treaties and for the eventual exit of most of the countries contained in the Empire, and a country that is still partially occupied, either lawfully or unlawfully depending on your view) on purpose, or if he is simply an incompetent historian. The endings of these once great Empires is also skimmed over, which is quite strange. I acknowledge that this book is short, but it is spotty at best, and I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone due to its lack of information, which feels at times almost deliberate.
TL;DR: if the British (or any) Empire is spoken about at any length, it warrants a simple but comprehensive overview at the very least.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief and breezy book that recounts the history of western empire from Alexander to the modern day, noting its advantages and pleasures as well as its sins. To say breezy is not to diminish its seriousness (with topics like slavery, racism and ethnic cleansing it has to be), but to say that it is well-written, opinionated, and at times even funny. Of course it is not comprehensive, instead you must trust the author to provide an apt tour. And he does. An excellent history for a plane ride or to induce thoughtful conversation over lunch.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is organized more or less chronologically, with thematic chapters--for instance, Slavery. It's a challenging read because of all the references to individuals whose names are not familiar to me, as well as the academic writing style. What was most interesting was the author's observations about the different kinds of empire that have existed throughout history. For example, the aims and methods of the establishment of the Roman Empire were quite different from those of the ocean voyages that created the Spanish and Portuguese empires.

[Vivek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll admit that it must be difficult to produce a satisfying work about Empires in as little space as this book had to work with. But except for two or three chapters I found this book boring and unfocused. It doesn't do justice to any of the "empires" or "peoples" discussed, and definitely doesn't do a good job giving the reader a comprehensive look at (Western) empires through the ages. I learned a little from this book, but I'm not sure if it was worth reading.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pagden does a wonderful job outlining the course of history in this book. A must-read for the novice historian, Pagden discusses the major points of the human experience with easily understood prose. Great for anyone who teaches world history as Pagden makes many overlapping points clear to the reader. One part of the book I enjoyed was how Pagden spent as much time talking about why Spain declined as a power as why they became powerful...he really gets to the root of historical themes.

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know a lot of the material in this book, but the narrative put it altogether for me, as well as filled in some gaps that I didn't know. A good addition to understanding the modern state of the world. My criticism would have to be that at times the author puts a lot of his opinions into the narrative, though I can understand why it would be difficult not to.

[Dhs Sparrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pagdan's _Peoples and Empires_ takes us on a whirlwind tour through the history of western civilization, tracing what Pagden calls "empire." The empires the book covers include: Rome, Spain, Great Britian.

The beauty of the book is not only it's *introduction* to analysis of the concept of empire throughout history, but it's succinct and short account of western civilization.

[Uncleg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Discussion of European empires and their effects on world civilization, beginning with Alexander the Great. Greatest emphasis is on the Roman Empire and on the colonial empires of Britain and France. Recorded Books. Read by Robert O’Keefe.

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly tedious recitation of empires from Alexander the Great to the British Empire. One can summarize this one as "Rome was pretty good but all the rest -- and especially that British one(!) are horrid! Surface facts are right, but the thinking is shallow and dogmatic.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very brief but well written account of a large swath of history.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting points but mostly just generalities.

[J. M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and beautily written