Three Victories and a Defeat

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Product Information

ISBN9780140289848
AuthorsBrendan Simms
PublisherPenguin Books Ltd
FormatPaperback
Number of pages832
Weight (kg)0.576
Publishing Date31/07/2008
Price (excl. tax)€25.38
Tax€1.52
Price (incl. tax)€26.90
Availability2 units in external warehouse

Product Description

''Studded with brilliant vignettes and arresting insights, Simms''s marvellous narrative presents an original and provocative account not only of the rise and decline of British eighteenth-cetury imperial power, but also of the processes that formed the modern global system'' Christopher Clark

This highly original, extremely enjoyable book tells the story of Britain’s extraordinary scramble to world power in the 18th century and how, through hubris and incompetence, it lost almost everything it had gained.

Whilst Britain was an important European power, few would have expected her global preeminence by 1760, but as Brendan Simms shows with great flair and originality, Britain had a crucial card to play. It was the joining of the British crown to Hanover that gave Britain two empires: one scattered around the world and another – the more important of the two - firmly locked into Germany. Having created a new empire Britain then spectacularly lost it, this time because of its chaotic failure to maintain its European alliances. This is an epic and often unexpected story, and Simms tells it brilliantly.