000			02840cam a2200445 a 4500
999			_c194958 _d194918
001			15237088
003			OSt
005			20210308122405.0
008			080328s2008 nyuabf b 001 0 eng
010			_a 2008014192
020			_a9780307268297
020			_a0307268292
035			_a(OCoLC)ocn215177421
035			_a(OCoLC)215177421 _z(OCoLC)212855104
040			_aDLC _cDLC _dBAKER _dYDXCP _dBTCTA _dJTE _dC#P _dBUR _dBWX _dDLC
043			_ae-uk--- _ab------
050	0	0	_aDA16 _b.B675 2008
082	0	0	_a909.0971241 _222
100	1		_aBrendon, Piers.
245	1	4	_aThe decline and fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997 / _cPiers Brendon.
250			_a1st American ed.
260			_aNew York : _bAlfred A. Knopf, _c2008.
300			_axiii, 793 p., [24] p. of plates : _bill., col. maps ; _c25 cm.
500			_aMaps on endpapers.
500			_a"Originally published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape, London"--T.p. verso.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [665]-759) and index.
520			_aAfter the American Revolution, the British Empire appeared doomed. But over the next 150 years it grew to become the greatest and most diverse empire the world has ever seen--from Canada to Australia to China, India, and Egypt--seven times larger than the Roman Empire at its apogee. Yet it was also fundamentally weak, as Piers Brendon shows in this panoramic chronicle. Run from a tiny island base, it operated on a shoestring with the help of local elites. It enshrined a belief in freedom that would fatally undermine its authority. Spread too thin, and facing wars, economic crises, and domestic discord, the empire would vanish almost as quickly as it appeared. Within a generation, it collapsed, sometimes amid bloodshed, leaving unfinished business in Rhodesia, the Falklands, and Hong Kong. Above all, it left a contested legacy: at best, a sporting spirit, a legal code, and a near-universal language; at worst, failed states and internecine strife.--From publisher description.
610	2	0	_aCommonwealth (Organization) _xHistory.
650		0	_aImperialism _xHistory.
651		0	_aGreat Britain _xColonies _xHistory.
651		0	_aCommonwealth countries _xHistory.
651		0	_aGreat Britain _xCivilization.
856	4	2	_3Contributor biographical information _uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0902/2008014192-b.html
856	4	2	_3Publisher description _uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0902/2008014192-d.html
856	4	1	_3Sample text _uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0902/2008014192-s.html
856	4	1	_3Table of contents only _uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0902/2008014192-t.html
906			_a7 _bcbc _corignew _d1 _eecip _f20 _gy-gencatlg
942			_2lcc _cBK