Pierce Brandon's book, both in title and content, echoes Edward Gibbon's epoch-making work, “The History of the Decline and Destruction of the Roman Empire.” And this is no coincidence: the British, striving to conquer the world, always looked back to Ancient Rome. They found the key to gaining true power in the ruins of Rome. But the reasons for the fall of the British Empire should also be sought there. The author reflects on this and many other things on the pages of this book and paints a multifaceted picture of the decline and destruction of the British Empire between 1781 and 1997.