Overview

An invigorating history of the arguments and cooperation between America and Britain as they divided up the world and an illuminating exploration of their underlying alliance Throughout modern history, British and American rivalry has gone hand in hand with common interests. In this book Kathleen Burk brilliantly examines the different kinds of power the two empires have projected, and the means they have used to do it. What the two empires have shared is a mixture of pragmatism, ruthless commercial drive, a self-righteous foreign policy and plenty of naked aggression. These have been aimed against each other more than once; yet their underlying alliance against common enemies has been historically unique and a defining force throughout the twentieth century. This is a global and epic history of the rise and fall of empires. It ranges from America’s futile attempts to conquer Canada to her success in opening up Japan but rapid loss of leadership to Britain; from Britain’s success in forcing open China to her loss of the Middle East to the US; and from the American conquest of the Philippines to her destruction of the British Empire. The Pax Americana replaced the Pax Britannica, but now the American world order is fading, threatening Britain’s belief in her own world role.

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9781408856277

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Reviews

A wry history of the wrangles, local shoot outs and potential crises that took place at intervals through the two centuries following American independence … This is a pleasing book, because it recounts droll, often absurd episodes in the history of Anglo-American relations that will be unfamiliar to most readers -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times * A fascinating, scholarly account of a troubled relationship between two empires divided, as George Bernard Shaw put it, by a common language * Herald * A compelling study * Prospect * A thoughtful and scholarly analysis of the interaction of the British and American empires over two centuries … Burk’s great talent is in dealing with government action, in untangling the many disputes and explaining the often-complex negotiations that brought about their resolution -- Frank Prochaska * Literary Review * Burk writes in the compelling, authoritative, grand style of her mentor, AJP Taylor, and not many historians do that anymore. Burk writes with élan about big events over a vast canvas. But, also like him, she never lets her reader forget that history is ultimately about people … And that, in the end, is what makes this book so enjoyable * BBC History Magazine * Burk ... brings her sparkling style to consider Britain and America as imperial presences, and to assess their interaction, impact and imperial styles … Burk offers an energetic look at an established topic and does so with considerable panache … [she] has a fine grasp of political contingencies and geopolitical realities, and offers a fresh reading on familiar topics * Standpoint * Passing through decades of cooperation, conflict and negotiation, [The Lion and the Eagle is] an absorbing study of how two nations wrestled with global power * History Revealed * A formidable achievement; scholarly, readable and entertaining -- Praise for 'Old World, New World' * Daily Telegraph * Mindbogglingly ambitious ... The lucid, enjoyably propulsive narrative ... is studded with arresting incidents and images that bring home the richness - and darkness - of the Anglo-American past -- Praise for 'Old World, New World' * Guardian * A remarkable achievement -- Praise for 'Old World, New World', Vernon Bognador * Spectator * An absorbing work of intelligent, nuanced scholarship -- Praise for 'Old World, New World' * Irish Times *

A wry history of the wrangles, local shoot outs and potential crises that took place at intervals through the two centuries following American independence ... This is a pleasing book, because it recounts droll, often absurd episodes in the history of Anglo-American relations that will be unfamiliar to most readers -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times * A fascinating, scholarly account of a troubled relationship between two empires divided, as George Bernard Shaw put it, by a common language * Herald * A compelling study * Prospect * A thoughtful and scholarly analysis of the interaction of the British and American empires over two centuries ... Burk's great talent is in dealing with government action, in untangling the many disputes and explaining the often-complex negotiations that brought about their resolution -- Frank Prochaska * Literary Review * Burk writes in the compelling, authoritative, grand style of her mentor, AJP Taylor, and not many historians do that anymore. Burk writes with elan about big events over a vast canvas. But, also like him, she never lets her reader forget that history is ultimately about people ... And that, in the end, is what makes this book so enjoyable * BBC History Magazine * Burk ... brings her sparkling style to consider Britain and America as imperial presences, and to assess their interaction, impact and imperial styles ... Burk offers an energetic look at an established topic and does so with considerable panache ... [she] has a fine grasp of political contingencies and geopolitical realities, and offers a fresh reading on familiar topics * Standpoint * Passing through decades of cooperation, conflict and negotiation, [The Lion and the Eagle is] an absorbing study of how two nations wrestled with global power * History Revealed * A formidable achievement; scholarly, readable and entertaining -- Praise for 'Old World, New World' * Daily Telegraph * Mindbogglingly ambitious ... The lucid, enjoyably propulsive narrative ... is studded with arresting incidents and images that bring home the richness - and darkness - of the Anglo-American past -- Praise for 'Old World, New World' * Guardian * A remarkable achievement -- Praise for 'Old World, New World', Vernon Bognador * Spectator * An absorbing work of intelligent, nuanced scholarship -- Praise for 'Old World, New World' * Irish Times *

Author Information

Kathleen Burk is Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, commentator and radio panellist. She is the author of several distinguished scholarly books on the US and its interventions in the rest of the world, and a definitive biography of A.J.P. Taylor. Kathleen’s most recent book was Old World, New World, a history of England and America from 1600 to the present.

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