A NEW YORK TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, HISTORY TODAY AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR''Masterly... This book is dynamite'' - ROBERT GILDEA, author of Empires of the Mind**Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize****Winner of the NYU/Axinn Foundation Prize**A searing, landmark study of the British Empire that lays bare its pervasive use of violence throughout the twentieth century.Drawing on more than a decade of research on four continents, Caroline Elkins reveals the dark heart of Britain''s Empire: a racialised, systemised doctrine of unrelenting violence, which it used to secure and maintain its interests across the globe.When Britain could no longer maintain control over that violence, it simply retreated - and sought to destroy the evidence. Legacy of Violence is a monumental achievement that explodes long-held myths and deserves the attention of anyone who seeks to understand empire''s role in shaping the world today.''Not so much a history book as a book of historical significance'' BBC History Magazine''Riveting'' New Statesman ''Crucial...as unflinching as it is gripping, as carefully researched as it is urgently necessary'' Jill Lepore, author of These Truths