by Linda Colley
First published 2002
Linda Colley examines the forgotten stories of British subjects who became prisoners during the empire's expansion across 250 years. She uncovers the experiences of Sarah Shade, imprisoned with defeated British forces in Southern India, and Joseph Pitts, enslaved and forced to make pilgrimage to Mecca. The book follows Florentia Sale, who documented her captivity in Afghanistan, and George Thomas, an Irishman who crossed cultural boundaries and adopted new identities. Colley also tells the story of John Rutherford, a Scot who lived as a Chippewa warrior before returning home. Through these individual accounts, Colley challenges conventional understanding of British imperial power. She reveals how captivity experiences expose Britain's dependence on non-European peoples and reshape perspectives on British attitudes toward Islam, slavery, race, and American revolutionaries. The author demonstrates that these personal stories illuminate both the reach and the boundaries of global British influence over time.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, adventure, british-literature, 21st-century, 19th-century, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, identity-crisis
Setting: Afghanistan, India, Mecca, United Kingdom
Period: 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century
Unknown Binding · Jonathan Cape Ltd
Content warnings: colonialism, slavery