An Epic Tragedy. Highly Recommended.
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The premise of the book has become so cliched that its fundamental truth has almost become obscured. Cocker uncovers in painstaking detail the results of European colonialism in four areas of the world. Without ever romanticizing the societies (the bloody side of the Aztecs is particularly stressed) that are conquered, he paints a tragic and moving. A valuable antidote to apologists for European/Western Imperialism.
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Mine's a sherry
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Flicking seemingly indiscriminately from one corner of the world to another, without any convincing reasons as to why, the undeniable importance of this path of subtlety will soon hit you square in the face like a well aimed brick. To say that this book is brutally humbling would be obvious, after all, that should be what you expect. It goes much further. This is not new stuff, which is fine as it does not pretend to be... it is faultlessly researched, packed with information that you know you should know (and probably don't) and worded so eloquenty that you could almost be forgiven for dancing over the harrowing content. I still stagger in disbelief at the general ignorance most people have of the true history of our empires (speaking as an European), as much as I stagger in disbelief that this ignorance is encouraged by the various education syllabi 'decision makers.' This, or a similar text, should be standard reading for everyone. Chin chin
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