Books by Caroline Elkins
“Legacy of Violence is probably the most academic book on the shortlist, but we all felt it was an extraordinary achievement, taking a massive subject and honing it. It’s a model of long-term research. It’s an incredibly topical subject, and often a very controversial one for people, too. It was impossible to ignore this book, in terms of not only the canvas, but also the adroitness with which she’s brought all her research together and presented it. It’s tremendous…I don’t think it’s much of a surprise to hear that the legacy of colonialism was often one of violence. It’s about the systematic nature of that violence. Very often you hear people argue, ‘Well yes, there was violence here and there, but it wasn’t a deliberate policy.’ This book very convincingly shows that this was state-sponsored violence that happened across the board. That is something we need to know and we need to grapple with.” Read more...
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist
Caroline Sanderson, Journalist
“The uncomfortable fact remains that a large slice of the British Empire was bankrolled by opium money.” Read more...
The best books on The Opium War
Julia Lovell, Historian
Interviews where books by Caroline Elkins were recommended
The best books on The Opium War, recommended by Julia Lovell
The 19th century opium war marked the clash of the world’s great empires of the age – Britain and China. Historian Julia Lovell says its legacy of Chinese humiliation is still felt keenly in Beijing.
The best books on The Mau Mau Uprising and The Fading Empire, recommended by Adam Foulds
British novelist and poet Adam Foulds discusses fading empire in the context of Kenya, including the horrors of British gulags, the Mau Mau uprising, and the social deprivation endured by the Kikuyu.
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1
Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
by Caroline Elkins -
2
The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
by Jonathan Freedland -
3
My Fourth Time, We Drowned
by Sally Hayden -
4
The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
by Anna Keay -
5
A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story
by Polly Morland -
6
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
by Katherine Rundell
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist, recommended by Caroline Sanderson
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist, recommended by Caroline Sanderson
Every year the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize pick out the best nonfiction books published in the United Kingdom over the previous 12 months. Author and books journalist Caroline Sanderson, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist, books that are important, readable and will hopefully surprise you.
