How did the inhabitants of a rainy island in the North Atlantic manage to build, and then lose, an empire on which “the sun never set”? What was the goal of the British colonial policy: robbery or “export of freedom and order”? Is there a demand for imperialism in the 21st century? Niall Ferguson's provocative book tells the story of almost three centuries of British global rule and its fruits, sweet and bitter. Some critics see Empire as a justifiable attempt to rehabilitate colonialism. Others curse the British Empire - and Ferguson.