Uncommon Wealth

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What to expect

'BRILLIANTLY ARRANGED AND RICH WITH FRESH INSIGHTS, UNCOMMON WEALTH REMINDS US HOW THE FORGOTTEN STORIES OF EMPIRE AND DECOLONISATION CONTINUE TO IMPACT OUR DAILY LIVES IN BRITAIN - AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD - UP TO TODAY' AKALA

Britain didn't just put the empire back the way it had found it.

In Uncommon Wealth, Kojo Koram traces the tale of how after the end of the British empire an interconnected group of well-heeled British intellectuals, politicians, accountants and lawyers offshored their capital, seized assets and saddled debt in former 'dependencies'. This enabled horrific inequality across the globe as ruthless capitalists profited and ordinary people across Britain's former territories in colonial Africa, Asia and the Caribbean were trapped in poverty. However, the reinforcement of capitalist power across the world also ricocheted back home. Now it has left many Britons wondering where their own sovereignty and prosperity has gone...

Decolonisation was not just a trendy buzzword. It was one of the great global changes of the past hundred years, yet Britain - the protagonist in the whole, messy drama - has forgotten it was ever even there. A blistering uncovering of the scandal of Britain's disastrous treatment of independent countries after empire, Uncommon Wealth shows the decisions of decades past are contributing to the forces that are breaking Britain today.

(P) Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critics Review

  • Brilliantly arranged and rich with fresh insights, Uncommon Wealth reminds us how the forgotten stories of empire and decolonisation continue to impact our daily lives in Britain – and throughout the world – up to today.

    Akala
  • A radical, beautifully written understanding of our history – ingeniously placing Britain’s recent tumult into context

    Owen Jones
  • You can’t understand how Britain works today without reading it

    Frankie Boyle
  • Unflinching and lucidly written, Uncommon Wealth challenges everything you thought you knew about the British Empire and its legacy. This book should be part of the national curriculum

    Ellie Mae O'Hagan
  • A challenge to a nation living in the shadow of empire: reckon with your imperial past, or it will come back to bite you . . . Stirring, rigorous and readable

    Grace Blakeley
  • Compelling and masterful . . . Perfectly timed for a moment when more are recognizing that the past is not past, the legacies of empire are profound, and another world is possible

    Samuel Moyn, Yale University

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