Penguin presents the unabridged audiobook edition of Empire by Niall Ferguson, go through by Jonathan Keeble.

Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial crimson and Britannia ruled not just the waves, however the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how do a little, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun actually never arranged finally drop and fall? Niall Ferguson’s acclaimed Empire about Empire: How Britain Made today’s world brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in every its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold-diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all background – and established the world on the road to modernity.

‘The most brilliant British historian of his generation … Ferguson examines the tasks of “pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts” in the creation of history’s largest empire … he writes with marvelous panache … and a seemingly easy, debonair wit’ Andrew Roberts

‘Dazzling … wonderfully readable’ New York Overview of Books

‘A incredibly readable précis of the complete British imperial tale – triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all’ Jan Morris

‘Empire is a enjoyment to learn and brims with insights and intelligence’ Sunday Times