Author:Linda Colley
Ranging over a quarter of a millennium and four continents, Captives uncovers the experiences and writings of those tens of thousands of men and women who took part in Britain's rise to imperial pre-eminence, but who got caught and caught out. Here are the stories of Sarah Shade, a camp follower imprisoned alongside defeated British legions in Southern India; of Joseph Pitts, white slave and pilgrim to Mecca; of Florentia Sale, captive and diarist in Afghanistan; of those individuals who crossed the cultural divide and switched identities, like the Irishman George Thomas; and of others who made it back, like the onetime Chippewa warrior and Scot, John Rutherford. Linda Colley uses these tales of ordinary individuals trapped in extraordinary encounters to re-evaluate the character and diversity of the British Empire. She explores what they reveal about British responses to, relations with, and frequent dependence upon different non-European peoples. She shows how British attitudes to Islam, slavery, race, and American Revolutionaries look different once the captive's perspective is admitted. And she demonstrates how these individual captivities illuminate the limits of Britain's global power over time - as well as its extent. Richly illustrated and evocatively written, Captives is both a magnificent and compelling work of history, and a powerful and original reappraisal of the significance and survivals of empire now.
Redeems from obscurity an unsung hero of true greatness... Sheds invigorating light on the course of the English civil war
—— SpectatorRobertson has come up with that desperately rare thing: a subject worthy of biography who has never before been addressed and, to his huge advantage, in his field. The result is a work of literary advocacy as elegant, impassioned and original as any the author can ever have laid before a court
—— Anthony Holden , ObserverRobertson tells a spellbinding story. He combines lucid analysis of the legal issues with acute understanding of the various factions. His prose is crisp and he inserts some comments that only a professional advocate, as opposed to an academic historian, would make
—— Christopher Silvester , Daily TelegraphFascinating... Illuminating... This is a work of great compassion and, at a time when it seems to be fashionable for politicians to denigrate lawyers, it is an essential read for anyone who believes in the fearless independence of the law
—— John Cooper , The Times[Robertson's] forensic intelligence can penetrate where professional historians have not reached
—— Blair Worden , Literary ReviewReveals the woman behind the myths
—— Northern EchoUtterly absorbing ... tantalizing
—— City AMA wonderful sparkling biography
—— Amanda Foreman, author of GEORGIANA: DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIREIn this pacey retelling of a classic love story, Kate Williams has created a sparkling life worthy of Emma herself. A new biography for a new generation.
—— Stella Tillyard, author of A ROYAL AFFAIRPopular history at its best
—— David Liss, author of A SPECTACLE OF CORRUPTIONEvery intricate detail is laid out, and Kate Williams' writing is so immediate, you feel all but transported...
—— Birmingham Post...cleverly conceived and stylishly executed...
—— Independent...well worth staying the course... Campbell's dissection of this last union covers much familiar ground, but he shows just how much a close political relationship can hobble an administration as much as energise it
—— Independent on SundayThe book is a joy to read: meticulously researched, beautifully written and scrupulously fair.
—— Chris Mullen , Observerstylish book
—— Sunday TimesEntertaining study
—— Simon Shaw , Daily Mail
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