In this modern world of technology and advanced learning, it is easy for people to believe that the history taught in schools, universities and online is a pretty accurate decisive history. But a new book entitled The History Thieves by Ian Cobain has shown that there are cracks forming in the historical foundation of the British Empire.
The British Empire at it's peak in the 1920s had a population of over 500 million people and could lay claim to 24% of the Earth's total land area. The empire was so large that the sun was always shining on a part of it; 'the empire on which the sun never sets'. Included in those parts were Canada, Bermuda, Egypt, Burma, South Africa, India and Ireland.
Cobain's book looks at all the records meticulously kept by the British while ruling their colonies and how, despite popular belief, large amounts of these records weren't destroyed once the country received it's independence. Instead these records were secreted back to the UK and have been kept in a facility in Hanslope Park near Milton Keynes.
'By Cobain's reckoning, 15 miles of floor-to-ceiling shelving was packed with files dated from the 17th century to the cold war and the Troubles in Northern Ireland - files so numerous that their catalogue entries measured the metres of shelf space they occupied. Officially, none of these documents existed'.
- Guardian article by Ian Jack 6 October 2016
The British Empire at it's peak in the 1920s had a population of over 500 million people and could lay claim to 24% of the Earth's total land area. The empire was so large that the sun was always shining on a part of it; 'the empire on which the sun never sets'. Included in those parts were Canada, Bermuda, Egypt, Burma, South Africa, India and Ireland.
 |
| The British Empire in 1921 |
Cobain's book looks at all the records meticulously kept by the British while ruling their colonies and how, despite popular belief, large amounts of these records weren't destroyed once the country received it's independence. Instead these records were secreted back to the UK and have been kept in a facility in Hanslope Park near Milton Keynes.
'By Cobain's reckoning, 15 miles of floor-to-ceiling shelving was packed with files dated from the 17th century to the cold war and the Troubles in Northern Ireland - files so numerous that their catalogue entries measured the metres of shelf space they occupied. Officially, none of these documents existed'.
- Guardian article by Ian Jack 6 October 2016
Will the history of the British Empire and her colonies be re-written by these secret records?
The answer could be definitely or maybe or not at all. But to get an answer the
first step is to make them available, a step that has yet to be taken.
To read the full Guardian article and review of The History Thieves click here
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy