The Lords of Human Kind

The Lords of Human Kind remains an important resource for the history of racism and empire, and is a finely written book, with a frequently sardonic tone at the expense of self-revealing imperialists. * Counterfire *
[Victor Kiernan is] that great Scottish historian of empire. * Edward Said *
One of the rewards of my career as a historian is to have once suggested the idea of this book to Victor Kiernan, knowing that no other scholar had the brilliance and global range of learning to write it. It is still a marvellous book, fresh as on the day of first publication and ready for a new generation of readers. * Eric Hobsbawm *
The Lords of Human Kind provides an essential anti-Imperialist introduction to global history, and remains an indispensible work for understanding the modern world. The new edition is to be unreservedly welcomed. * John Newsinger, Author of The Blood Never Dried: A People's History of the British Empire *
A wry delight - brilliant, witty and humane * Philip Toynbee, Observer *
Victor Kiernan's classic work is a marvellous and erudite introduction to the cruelties and absurdities of the European empires and their interaction with the world beyond, the best single volume on the subject there is. With its entertaining style and encyclopaedic range, there is nothing quite like this book. It should be read by every teacher and by every schoolchild. * Richard Gott, author of Britain's Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt *
Absorbing. * Shiva Naipaul, The Times *