Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

by Nigel Biggar

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Book Overview: Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989, many believed that we had arrived at the ‘End of History’ – that the global dominance of liberal democracy had been secured forever.

Now however, with Russia rattling its sabre on the borders of Europe and China rising to challenge the post-1945 world order, the liberal West faces major threats.

These threats are not only external. Especially in the Anglosphere, the ‘decolonisation’ movement corrodes the West’s self-confidence by retelling the history of European and American colonial dominance as a litany of racism, exploitation, and massively murderous violence.

Nigel Biggar tests this indictment, addressing the crucial questions in eight chapters: Was the British Empire driven primarily by greed and the lust to dominate? Should we speak of ‘colonialism and slavery’ in the same breath, as if they were identical? Was the Empire essentially racist? How far was it based on the theft of land? Did it involve genocide? Was it driven fundamentally by the motive of economic exploitation? Was undemocratic colonial government necessarily illegitimate? and, Was the Empire essentially violent, and its violence pervasively racist and terroristic?

Biggar makes clear that, like any other long-standing state, the British Empire involved elements of injustice, sometimes appalling. On occasions it was culpably incompetent and presided over moments of dreadful tragedy.

Nevertheless, from the early 1800s the Empire was committed to abolishing the slave trade in the name of a Christian conviction of the basic equality of all human beings. It ended endemic inter-tribal warfare, opened local economies to the opportunities of global trade, moderated the impact of inescapable modernisation, established the rule of law and liberal institutions such as a free press, and spent itself in defeating the murderously racist Nazi and Japanese empires in the Second World War.

As encyclopaedic in historical breadth as it is penetrating in analytical depth, Colonialism offers a moral inquest into the colonial past, forensically contesting damaging falsehoods and thereby helping to rejuvenate faith in the West’s future.

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Editorial Reviews

‘A fascinating read, informative, surprising and written with panache and clarity’ The Times, Andrew Billen

‘A thoughtful, compelling text’ Daily Telegraph, five-star review

‘A salutary corrective’ The Times, Book of the Week

‘Carries the intellectual force of a Javeline antitank missile. Colonialism is no apologia for empire… but calls for balance…Biggar acknowledges wickedness in our nation but his version of history calls us to accept the messiness and moral compromises inherent in liberalism’ Sunday Times

‘Nigel Biggar has written … the book on the morality of the British Empire, a kind of Encyclopaedia Pacis Britannicae…. a thoughtful, compelling text’ Sunday Telegraph

‘An important, timely and brave book…the first serious counter blast against the hysterical and ahistorical orthodoxy that has placed such a stranglehold on our public discourse on the British Empire, and as such will prove to be an indispensable handbook in the battles to come. It is also exceedingly well written and compellingly argued’ The Critic

‘An important book, as well as a courageous one’ Literary Review

‘Patiently argued and carefully balanced yet passionately committed to the production of a narrative which replaces denunciation and with evidences and understanding’ Quillette

‘Biggar fearlessly goes where few other scholars now venture to tread: to defend the British empire against its increasingly vitriolic detractors … Those who wish to accuse the Victorians of genocide – who seek gulags in Kenya or Holocausts in the Raj – will probably not risk being ‘triggered’ by reading this book. But they really should … Biggar’s book simply cannot be ignored by anyone who wishes to hold a view on the subject’
Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and author of Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World

About the Author

Nigel Biggar

Nigel Biggar is an acclaimed British ethicist and theologian, best known for his substantial contributions to the field of ethics, particularly in relation to social, political and religious matters. He was born in Scotland, completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford, and further expanded his academic prowess with a Master’s from Harvard Divinity School and a PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School. With a solid academic foundation, Biggar undertook a career spanning multiple esteemed universities, including the University of Leeds, Trinity College Dublin, and the University of Oxford.

Biggar is currently the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, where he has held this prestigious position since 2007. He also leads the McDonald Center for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life, demonstrating his steadfast commitment to interdisciplinary research and education. Throughout his illustrious career, Biggar has been heavily involved in writing and editing, having authored several books and numerous articles on ethics and theology.

Renowned for his thought-provoking works and erudition, Nigel Biggar has built an eminent reputation in the intertwined worlds of theology and ethics. He is a fellow of the British Academy and has garnered a multitude of professional accolades, including the Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology award. With a scholarly perspective firmly rooted in real-world matters, Biggar continuously pushes the boundaries of traditional religious study, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of ethics in contemporary society.