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The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
"The students enjoyed it very much. It was difficult enough to keep a history calss challenged, but easy enough for them to enjoy it."--Stephen Miller, University of Connecticut
"Ideally suited for undergraduate courses in colonialism and world history."--S. David Knisley, Mars Hill College
"Excellent and moving text!"--Linda Waleda, Portland State University
"Excellent study. I have been asked to propose a course on Industrialization, Technology and International Relations... [and] Headrick's work will be included. Thanks for letting me read this fine study."--Thomas Schoonover, University of Southwestern Louisiana
"A fine, in-depth work for use with the more cursory textbook treatment of a central element of modern history."--T.R. Cox, San Diego State University
About the Author
Daniel R. Headrick is Professor of Social Science and History at Roosevelt University and author of numerous books on world history.
"Ideally suited for undergraduate courses in colonialism and world history."--S. David Knisley, Mars Hill College
"Excellent and moving text!"--Linda Waleda, Portland State University
"Excellent study. I have been asked to propose a course on Industrialization, Technology and International Relations... [and] Headrick's work will be included. Thanks for letting me read this fine study."--Thomas Schoonover, University of Southwestern Louisiana
"A fine, in-depth work for use with the more cursory textbook treatment of a central element of modern history."--T.R. Cox, San Diego State University
About the Author
Daniel R. Headrick is Professor of Social Science and History at Roosevelt University and author of numerous books on world history.
221 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 1981
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About the author
Daniel R. Headrick
56 books15 followersA specialist in the history of international relations, technology, and the environment, Daniel R. Headrick is professor emeritus of social science and history at Roosevelt University.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 19, 2008
Headrick's book is a short, narrowly focused, academic, and somewhat dry study of the technologies (gunboats, quinine, breechloading weapons, and railways) which allowed Europeans to colonize and otherwise control large swathes of Asia and Africa in the 19th century, and is more likely to be read in a university library carrel than in a beach chair. I would not recommend it for the reader with a casual interest in the history of European imperialism. Instead check out the piles of more readable and broader-in-scope studies out there (e.g. James Morris' Pax Britannica trilogy) or well-known narratives by such folks as Orwell. One I can recommend: Lawrence James' Rise and Fall of the British Empire. I've also read positive reviews of Hochschild's Leopold's Ghost.
October 15, 2015
Though this book contained far to many lists of names and numbers that were nearly impossible to follow, it is a great overview of the technological impact of British (and other) colonialism of the 19th and early 20th century.
Unlike other books I've read on the subject, Headrick's account does not glorify 'the empire' and, while the section is brief, comments on the negative impacts of colonialism on native populations.
The book also contains extensive reference notes with each chapter, allowing anyone who would like to to find a great number of other books to read on the subjects of technologies and European imperialism.
Unlike other books I've read on the subject, Headrick's account does not glorify 'the empire' and, while the section is brief, comments on the negative impacts of colonialism on native populations.
The book also contains extensive reference notes with each chapter, allowing anyone who would like to to find a great number of other books to read on the subjects of technologies and European imperialism.
March 5, 2018
Update: I got a B (87) on the paper because I was stupid and did not answer the motive question. But my professor liked everything else, so I suppose the venture was overall successful.
The Tools of Empire written by Daniel R. Headrick focuses on the issue of the influx of imperialism in Europe and which technologies triggered its occurrence. Industrialization in conquering seas, disease, weaponry, and ensuring efficient communication in Africa and Asia is what Headrick uses to argue of why the West surpassed the East during this time period and why Britain proved itself to be a strong nation. Headrick describes the intricate processes that were involved in the results of imperialism being both a combination of the desire for wealth, but also circumstantial technological development. These circumstances were what allowed the West to explore and later conquer large expanses of land in the East.
One of the most important points the Headrick makes in the book is that “… technological innovation often had to sneak through the back door.” As he shows readers, discoveries often came slowly and at the price of people’s lives, and even then were not welcomed outright. One of the best examples of this sacrifice is during the British exploration of Africa while men were suffering from malaria outbreaks. Over a million died from 1837 to 1836, until the death rates were significantly declined from quinine prophylaxis administered to crews. However, mercury was given to patients as an experiment to see if this could reverse the effects of the malaria fever—a dangerous chemical which undoubtedly contributed to the gargantuan death rates among the English. Even the cure to this devastating disease was not welcomed outright until the Pleiad’s expedition when it was found that death rates were dropping by high degrees. This Scientific Revolution was a climactic point for England because it allowed them to fully explore Africa. The imperialistic English did not pay the ultimate price—but the common soldier certainly did, which Headrick fails to mention. And if the English were willing to experiment with remedies upon their own people, then it should come as no surprise that they would take advantage of foreigners such as Indians and Africans. It is because of this combination of quinine, cinchona, and steamers allowed England to “destroy any towns that resisted British intrusion by 1870.” They were trading and accumulating wealth using their technology—the symbiotic relationship that Headrick mentions throughout the book between imperialism and industrialization.
It is ironic that the technology which allowed Britain to become a great naval and industrial power was usually not welcomed with open arms at its initial invention. This is seen also with the iron steamship which would allow businesses (not just the government) to transport goods overseas. After the invincibility of the Great Britain was proven, pig iron production skyrocketed by 5.3 million tons. This radical increase in production helped the British economy from the inside and allowed them to keep ahead of the United States and their cheap timber shipbuilding production. Headrick helps readers understand from this section that the inner workings of Britain were just as important as their efforts to conquer because it is what helped them stay ahead of other countries. Without a strong foundation, any imperialism is bound to fail eventually. As Headrick states in the beginning of the book, it is this combination of technological advancement and want of betterment that furthered the British in enabling them to conquer and remain for so long the number one power in the West. The circumstances and coincidences of the acceptance of better technology helped their situation along without brute strength or superiority.
Headrick makes this point best in his description of colonial weapons and how they surpassed Africa’s technology. As he writes, to fight the most efficiently, the French had “… to develop a gun as accurate as a rifle and as quick to load as a musket.” Once the breechloader was invented and used by the Prussians, the Europeans began to take this technology and develop it further, to a great benefit towards colonization in Asia and Africa. Weapons contributed to the slave trade in Africa and its process as well as the more traditional forms of colonization. However, “… the influx of breechloaders into Africa caused increasing anxiety to Europeans.” They were clearly afraid that if Africans were able to acquire large amounts of these weapons, they might pose a risk to them even with their organizational and guerilla war tactics. It is clear from this that the European superiority air during this time period was a farce. If it was not, then they would not have prohibited the sale of breechloaders in certain latitudes in Africa.
Lastly, Headrick shows readers what this technological innovation and imperialism allowed Britain to do: take advantage with their power. If their railroad companies failed in India, the taxpayers would have to pay for their losses. So whatever happened, there would be no negative repercussions on them and they would retain their power and wealth. If Britain could “… secure a more reliable source of cotton than the United States” and attain instantaneous communication, they would remain as the top power in the European world of imperialism. With the approval of the Bengal government and East Indian Company, Britain was allowed to go forth with the project while promising to contribute to the funds that they accumulated from the project. When the railroads were finished, the British were in first-class, while “poor Indians” made up the third-class compartments. Headrick mentions at the end of the chapter that this sacrifice posed to the Indian people and that the government and companies disregarded it for their own motives. The best jobs were also given to Britons. This prioritizing is another danger of the free enterprise system. It appears that the British were not the only ones in power who were willing to sacrifice the wellbeing of their people to accomplish their goals of wealth and power. This seems to be the greatest danger of this technology—if countries are willing to go against their own people, what sort of risk might they pose to those who do not belong to their own concept of race?
What Daniel R. Headrick does best in The Tools of Empire is lead readers to their own conclusions by reporting the mere facts and intersections of technology and imperialism. The important questions remain of whether this technology was worth it to those who suffered for it or if it is worth it for what it has gained for the West from the 1800’s until today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have to submit my book review on this for my World Civilization II class, so I will include it after I receive what I suppose will be a mediocre grade back.
Meanwhile, I will include the music that I listened to while doing this assignment on Spotify:
1. This Is: Fleetwood Mac playlist
2. 24K Magic album (Bruno Mars)
10/10 would recommend.
The Tools of Empire written by Daniel R. Headrick focuses on the issue of the influx of imperialism in Europe and which technologies triggered its occurrence. Industrialization in conquering seas, disease, weaponry, and ensuring efficient communication in Africa and Asia is what Headrick uses to argue of why the West surpassed the East during this time period and why Britain proved itself to be a strong nation. Headrick describes the intricate processes that were involved in the results of imperialism being both a combination of the desire for wealth, but also circumstantial technological development. These circumstances were what allowed the West to explore and later conquer large expanses of land in the East.
One of the most important points the Headrick makes in the book is that “… technological innovation often had to sneak through the back door.” As he shows readers, discoveries often came slowly and at the price of people’s lives, and even then were not welcomed outright. One of the best examples of this sacrifice is during the British exploration of Africa while men were suffering from malaria outbreaks. Over a million died from 1837 to 1836, until the death rates were significantly declined from quinine prophylaxis administered to crews. However, mercury was given to patients as an experiment to see if this could reverse the effects of the malaria fever—a dangerous chemical which undoubtedly contributed to the gargantuan death rates among the English. Even the cure to this devastating disease was not welcomed outright until the Pleiad’s expedition when it was found that death rates were dropping by high degrees. This Scientific Revolution was a climactic point for England because it allowed them to fully explore Africa. The imperialistic English did not pay the ultimate price—but the common soldier certainly did, which Headrick fails to mention. And if the English were willing to experiment with remedies upon their own people, then it should come as no surprise that they would take advantage of foreigners such as Indians and Africans. It is because of this combination of quinine, cinchona, and steamers allowed England to “destroy any towns that resisted British intrusion by 1870.” They were trading and accumulating wealth using their technology—the symbiotic relationship that Headrick mentions throughout the book between imperialism and industrialization.
It is ironic that the technology which allowed Britain to become a great naval and industrial power was usually not welcomed with open arms at its initial invention. This is seen also with the iron steamship which would allow businesses (not just the government) to transport goods overseas. After the invincibility of the Great Britain was proven, pig iron production skyrocketed by 5.3 million tons. This radical increase in production helped the British economy from the inside and allowed them to keep ahead of the United States and their cheap timber shipbuilding production. Headrick helps readers understand from this section that the inner workings of Britain were just as important as their efforts to conquer because it is what helped them stay ahead of other countries. Without a strong foundation, any imperialism is bound to fail eventually. As Headrick states in the beginning of the book, it is this combination of technological advancement and want of betterment that furthered the British in enabling them to conquer and remain for so long the number one power in the West. The circumstances and coincidences of the acceptance of better technology helped their situation along without brute strength or superiority.
Headrick makes this point best in his description of colonial weapons and how they surpassed Africa’s technology. As he writes, to fight the most efficiently, the French had “… to develop a gun as accurate as a rifle and as quick to load as a musket.” Once the breechloader was invented and used by the Prussians, the Europeans began to take this technology and develop it further, to a great benefit towards colonization in Asia and Africa. Weapons contributed to the slave trade in Africa and its process as well as the more traditional forms of colonization. However, “… the influx of breechloaders into Africa caused increasing anxiety to Europeans.” They were clearly afraid that if Africans were able to acquire large amounts of these weapons, they might pose a risk to them even with their organizational and guerilla war tactics. It is clear from this that the European superiority air during this time period was a farce. If it was not, then they would not have prohibited the sale of breechloaders in certain latitudes in Africa.
Lastly, Headrick shows readers what this technological innovation and imperialism allowed Britain to do: take advantage with their power. If their railroad companies failed in India, the taxpayers would have to pay for their losses. So whatever happened, there would be no negative repercussions on them and they would retain their power and wealth. If Britain could “… secure a more reliable source of cotton than the United States” and attain instantaneous communication, they would remain as the top power in the European world of imperialism. With the approval of the Bengal government and East Indian Company, Britain was allowed to go forth with the project while promising to contribute to the funds that they accumulated from the project. When the railroads were finished, the British were in first-class, while “poor Indians” made up the third-class compartments. Headrick mentions at the end of the chapter that this sacrifice posed to the Indian people and that the government and companies disregarded it for their own motives. The best jobs were also given to Britons. This prioritizing is another danger of the free enterprise system. It appears that the British were not the only ones in power who were willing to sacrifice the wellbeing of their people to accomplish their goals of wealth and power. This seems to be the greatest danger of this technology—if countries are willing to go against their own people, what sort of risk might they pose to those who do not belong to their own concept of race?
What Daniel R. Headrick does best in The Tools of Empire is lead readers to their own conclusions by reporting the mere facts and intersections of technology and imperialism. The important questions remain of whether this technology was worth it to those who suffered for it or if it is worth it for what it has gained for the West from the 1800’s until today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have to submit my book review on this for my World Civilization II class, so I will include it after I receive what I suppose will be a mediocre grade back.
Meanwhile, I will include the music that I listened to while doing this assignment on Spotify:
1. This Is: Fleetwood Mac playlist
2. 24K Magic album (Bruno Mars)
10/10 would recommend.
June 18, 2020
The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century explores the social history of technology connecting what its author considers the two “great events” of the nineteenth century: the colonization of Africa and Asia, and the progress and development of industrial technology. He denounces the “leading sectors” model through which traditional historiographies up until the writing of this book was used to viewing the Industrial revolution, and their long disregard of technological factors in imperialist expansion. Headrick views nineteenth century imperialism as a result of both appropriate motives and adequate means, and divides the trajectory of its history into the three stages of exploration, conquest, and the forging of communication and transportation networks, and explores the development and role of technologies like guns, quinine, submarine cables, railroads and gunboats and steamships.
To me, one of the highlights of the book was the interconnected histories of the collaboration of politics, legislation, technological innovation and capital in the success of the steamship lobby in pushing for investment in gunboats in the British empire that Headrick traces, among other similar narratives pertaining to other technologies. This book sits at the crossroads of the history of technology, economic history and the history of European imperialism, and explores how specific technologies made specific developments in European imperialism possible. It is extremely well-researched, lucidly written and well-organized. I particularly enjoyed the way Headrick has followed the paper trail at the archives to trace the various developments that he tracks. One needs to realize, however, that his sources are official Parliamentary papers and documents of the English East India Company archives, which influences the kind of history he is able to tell. It is a history of powerful people making decisions and pushing their agenda that end up affecting millions of lives in different parts of the world.
To me, one of the highlights of the book was the interconnected histories of the collaboration of politics, legislation, technological innovation and capital in the success of the steamship lobby in pushing for investment in gunboats in the British empire that Headrick traces, among other similar narratives pertaining to other technologies. This book sits at the crossroads of the history of technology, economic history and the history of European imperialism, and explores how specific technologies made specific developments in European imperialism possible. It is extremely well-researched, lucidly written and well-organized. I particularly enjoyed the way Headrick has followed the paper trail at the archives to trace the various developments that he tracks. One needs to realize, however, that his sources are official Parliamentary papers and documents of the English East India Company archives, which influences the kind of history he is able to tell. It is a history of powerful people making decisions and pushing their agenda that end up affecting millions of lives in different parts of the world.
May 24, 2019
This book was finished back in April (?), so take this review with a few spoonfuls of salt. I remember the discussions of the particular inventions, such as the quinine, steam-powered warships, and breech-loading rifles, that allowed for the 'new' imperialism were intriguing! There were instances of overlap and repetition, but overall, this was a groundbreaking interdisciplinary look at an understudied topic!
January 27, 2025
This book, though outdated, does show a master narrative of technology used in European Imperialism through steamboats, quinine, guns, and communications tech. I would read it with a grain of salt, it does contain broad generalizations and source biases, but the content within itself is still highly relevant to the period itself.
August 29, 2020
Very readable book about the technology that was needed to make imperialism possible. Helps shift the chronology of students who assume that Europeans controlled the world starting 1492.
September 9, 2022
This man had about 15 pages of an actual argument and then 200 pages of fluff :))))) live love grad school
January 21, 2025
Technology and Empire sem
March 20, 2024
I had to read this for school, so it’s not something I would have reached for, and there is a lot of technical language and dates and numbers in it. However it was very readable, and there were some moments of a dry humor in Headrick’s tone I found amusing.
December 26, 2014
Excellent study of the impact of technology on the expansion of European (particularly British) imperialism in the 19th century. Particularly noteworthy is illustration of the intersections of motivation and opportunity and how technological advances were spurred by these in some case and created them in other cases. Primarily focused on Great Britain, it also provides several studies that illustrate the importance and influence of private and commercial entities in governmental affairs.
July 22, 2008
Okay, this book is about how the appearance of new technology in Europe sparked the age of "New Imperialism" in the East. I completely disagree with the author's thesis, but I give it 4 stars because it is well presented and because it is useful in detailing these impressive new technologies and their uses in Colonialism during the 18th and 19th centuries.
October 7, 2012
Great book, many points on the impact of technology on colonialism that I had not seen before. Well worth the read, though there are probably more recent books that have built off and expanded these ideas. Lastly, sometimes the text took a slightly too pro-imperialism tone but that is not totally unexpected from a book written in the early 80s by a British scholar.
July 27, 2007
a deceptively simple book. i found the cite in Sven Lindqvist's Exterminate the Brutes. Necessary reading to understand the time period and to understand that imperialism does not work by ideology alone.
October 18, 2013
This book was interesting for a book that I had to read for school! it was way better then the Sidney mintz book I had to read on sugar. This one actually was written in a way that I could retain what I was reading and the content was interesting.
March 7, 2009
Imperialism and technology fed upon each other, driving each other further. But lasting effects were often not what were originally anticipated.
January 11, 2010
EXCELLENT
August 2, 2013
Well-written, well-argued, well-documented.
March 6, 2014
So. Many. Names. So. Many. Dates. Good for information, but the author should have done more to link ideas.
December 24, 2015
I loved it.
October 17, 2011
HIST 277: European Empires
November 5, 2017
Will do later
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews