Heroes & Villains of the British Empire
Their Lives & Legends
Stephen Basdeo
- An
- analysis
- of
- the
- builders
- of
- the
- British
- Empire,
- how
- they
- were
- represented
- in
- popular
- culture
- of
- the
- day,
- and
- how
- that
- vision
- has
- changed
- over
- time.From
- the
- sixteenth
- until
- the
- twentieth
- century,
- British
- power
- and
- influence
- gradually
- expanded
- to
- cover
- one
- quarter
- of
- the
- world’s
- surface.
- The
- common
- saying
- was
- that
- “the
- sun
- never
- sets
- on
- the
- British
- Empire.”
- What
- began
- as
- a
- largely
- entrepreneurial
- enterprise
- in
- the
- early
- modern
- period,
- with
- privately
- run
- joint
- stock
- trading
- companies
- such
- as
- the
- East
- India
- Company
- driving
- British
- commercial
- expansion,
- by
- the
- nineteenth
- century
- had
- become,
- especially
- after
- 1857,
- a
- state-run
- endeavour,
- supported
- by
- a
- powerful
- military
- and
- navy.
- By
- the
- Victorian
- era,
- Britannia
- really
- did
- rule
- the
- waves.Heroes
- and
- Villains
- of
- the
- British
- Empire
- is
- the
- story
- of
- how
- British
- Empire
- builders
- such
- as
- Robert
- Clive,
- General
- Gordon,
- and
- Lord
- Roberts
- of
- Kandahar
- were
- represented
- and
- idealised
- in
- popular
- culture.
- The
- men
- who
- built
- the
- empire
- were
- often
- portrayed
- as
- possessing
- certain
- unique
- abilities
- which
- enabled
- them
- to
- serve
- their
- country
- in
- often
- inhospitable
- territories
- and
- spread
- what
- imperial
- ideologues
- saw
- as
- the
- benefits
- of
- the
- British
- Empire
- to
- supposedly
- uncivilised
- peoples
- in
- far
- flung
- corners
- of
- the
- world.
- These
- qualities
- and
- abilities
- were
- athleticism,
- a
- sense
- of
- fair
- play,
- devotion
- to
- God,
- and
- a
- fervent
- sense
- of
- duty
- and
- loyalty
- to
- the
- nation
- and
- the
- empire.
- Through
- the
- example
- of
- these
- heroes,
- people
- in
- Britain,
- and
- children
- in
- particular,
- were
- encouraged
- to
- sign
- up
- and
- serve
- the
- empire
- or,
- in
- the
- words
- of
- Henry
- Newbolt,
- “Play
- up!
- Play
- up!
- And
- Play
- the
- Game!”Yet
- this
- was
- not
- the
- whole
- story:
- while
- some
- writers
- were
- paid
- up
- imperial
- propagandists,
- other
- writers
- in
- England
- detested
- the
- very
- idea
- of
- the
- British
- Empire.
- And
- in
- the
- twentieth
- century,
- those
- who
- were
- once
- considered
- as
- heroic
- military
- men
- were
- condemned
- as
- racist
- rulers
- and
- exploitative
- empire builders.
