British Empire’s Hidden History

The British Empire's hidden history is one of resistance, not pride

Further reading

The History Thieves: Secrets, Lies and the Shaping of a Modern Nation by Ian Cobain

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In the 1950s, the distinguished American sociologist Edward Shils decided that the explanation lay with a ruling class that was “unequalled in secretiveness and taciturnity”, whose members were so close and comfortable with one another that they had little fear of hidden secrets. Cobain largely supports this view. Class deference combined with a relatively benign and trusting view of the state’s behaviour may explain “why the peculiarly uncommunicative nature of the British state does not provoke greater resentment and unease among the British public and media”. 

Quoted by Ian Jack, the Guardian