The Old Order

Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power, by Niall Ferguson (Basic, 352 pp., $35)

In 1897, the year of her Diamond Jubilee, England’s Queen Victoria ruled over a quarter of the world, more than 400 million souls. Taking into account her impressive economic holdings and authority elsewhere, her country’s influence could be felt in virtually every nation on earth. And though little now lingers of the Empire’s political supremacy, its cultural and economic legacy remains ubiquitous. England laid the foundation for global capitalism, her language the standard for business and culture worldwide. Her progeny, the United States, has become the world’s sole superpower, exporting its message of democracy and free-market capitalism to nations around the world.

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David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner.

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Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power, by Niall Ferguson (Basic, 352 pp., $35)

In 1897, the year of her Diamond Jubilee, England’s Queen Victoria ruled over a quarter of the world, more than 400 million souls. Taking into account her impressive economic holdings and authority elsewhere, her country’s influence could be felt in virtually every nation on earth. And though little now lingers of the Empire’s political supremacy, its cultural and economic legacy remains ubiquitous. England laid the foundation for global capitalism, her language the standard for business and culture worldwide. Her progeny, the United States, has become the world’s sole superpower, exporting its message of democracy and free-market capitalism to nations around the world.