Two academics from Oxford and Cambridge universities are urging a reassessment of British history, advocating for a narrative that acknowledges the nation's positive contributions while not shying away from its problematic past. In their book, "Our Island's Story," Conservative peer Nigel Biggar and Cambridge professor Robert Tombs contend that a focus on self-flagellation has overshadowed the "good and great things Britain did."
While acknowledging that "Britain did some appalling things, such as playing a major part in the Atlantic slave trade," the authors assert that the country also "led the way" in areas such as campaigning to abolish the slave trade, serving as a "beacon of intellectual liberty and enlightenment."
Biggar and Tombs challenge prevailing historical interpretations, suggesting that historians should approach the past with a greater appreciation for its distinct conditions and assumptions, rather than judging it solely by present-day standards. They note that slavery was a global practice, engaged in by various continents and skin colors since antiquity. The authors place the British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, which saw the export of 3.26 million slaves between 1660 and 1807, in a broader context, noting that European and Arab trade to the Far East enslaved over 40 million Africans.
Furthermore, the book highlights Britain's role in ending the slave trade, citing the Royal Navy's deployment of over 13 percent of its manpower off the coast of West Africa in 1850 to disrupt the export of slaves. Britain also utilized its diplomatic influence to promote a general abolition treaty among European powers.
The authors also question the extent to which profits from the slave trade financed the Industrial Revolution, referencing economists who suggest the revolution might have occurred, albeit at a potentially slower pace, without West Indian slavery. Regarding British India, they cite an Indian historian who noted that "many Indians, because they did not trust other Indians, preferred British rule over indigenous alternatives, and helped the East India Company to form a state." The book suggests the Empire "emerged from lands ceded to the company by Indian friends, rather than lands it 'conquered.'"
The work also examines other colonies, pointing to Australia's "adaptive assimilation" policy for native children, which provided education in English, literature, and agriculture. In Sudan, a native who served in the Sudan Civil Service recalled British colleagues in the 1950s possessing "a tremendous sense of mission" and earning the respect of the local population.
Biggar and Tombs emphasize that their aim is not to foster "arrogant and self-satisfied national vanity," but rather to encourage "feelings of gratitude and humility, an awareness of the value of what we have inherited, and sensitivity to what we need to protect."