![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/and-u00a0the-cover-of-his-book.png\")
And , the cover of his book<\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re not taught this history very well,\u201d he told Eastern Eye. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe empire is morally complex \u2013 sometimes we were good, sometimes bad \u2013 so, how do you even begin talking about it? It\u2019s also contentious. There are millions of us whose families were colo\u00adnised, and millions whose families were the colonisers.\u201d <\/p>\n
Teachers cannot teach what they themselves were never taught, Sanghera pointed out. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are multiple layers to why Brit\u00adish people are so bad at talking about this history. It touches on race, misogyny and geopolitics. It\u2019s easier just not to talk about it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Following the success of his bestselling children\u2019s title Stolen History, Sanghera\u2019s this latest work continues Sanghera\u2019s mis\u00adsion to write for readers aged nine and above. With a focus on human experi\u00adences, Sanghera said he wanted show that history is not just a list of dates or conquests \u2013 it\u2019s a tapestry of stories that connect people. <\/p>\n
Born in Wolverhampton to Punjabi immigrant parents, he began school un\u00adable to speak English. Later he graduated with first-class honours in English lan\u00adguage and literature from Christ\u2019s Col\u00adlege, Cambridge. <\/p>\n
He has since built a career as a writer and journalist. <\/p>\n
His memoir, The Boy with the Topknot, and his novel, Marriage Material, were both shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards. Empireland, Sanghera\u2019s explora\u00adtion of Britain\u2019s colonial legacy, was long\u00adlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non- Fiction, named a Book of the Year at the 2022 National Book Awards, and inspired the Channel 4 documentary series Em\u00adpire State of Mind. <\/p>\n
His first children\u2019s book, Stolen Histo\u00adry, introduced young readers to the com\u00adplex and often overlooked realities of empire. With Journeys of Empire, Sangh\u00adera aims to go further. \u201cWhen I finally learned about the British empire, it changed how I saw myself, how I saw Britain, and how I saw India,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed obvious that you\u2019d want to give this gift to young people \u2013 because your 40s is a bit late to be learning all this.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sanghera said the 10 journeys in the book take readers across continents and centuries, revealing both the ambition and the brutality of empire. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe British empire covered a quarter of the world\u2019s surface and a large portion of its population. It was seven times the size of the Roman empire,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Aiming to ensure diversity in both per\u00adspective and geography, Sanghera said he chose stories from various countries and different phases of the 400-year history. <\/p>\n
Alongside India and Mahatma Gandhi, readers will learn about Guyana\u2019s inden\u00adtured labour system, Gertrude Bell\u2019s ad\u00adventures in Iraq, and the British invasion of Tibet led by Francis Younghusband. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to highlight areas often left out of mainstream narratives,\u201d the writer said. The stories are written with an acces\u00adsible and honest tone, and with humour. <\/p>\n
\u201cViolence is a tricky area,\u201d Sanghera said. \u201cYou can\u2019t go into graphic detail, but you also shouldn\u2019t whitewash it. The vio\u00adlence and racism of colonialism were in\u00adtrinsic. \u201cI tried to strike a balance – ac\u00adknowledging the brutality without over\u00adwhelming young readers.\u201d <\/p>\n
Writing for children isn\u2019t much differ\u00adent from writing for adults, Sanghera said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou still need engaging stories and to hold attention. The main thing is to avoid big words that might put them off.\u201d <\/p>\n
He pointed out how storytelling can counter the allure of digital screens. <\/p>\n
\u201cKids are addicted to screens, and reading rates are falling globally. That\u2019s disastrous for mental health, intellectual development, and politics,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get news from screens, you\u2019re in an echo chamber \u2013 you\u2019re not being challenged or taught to think in a nuanced way.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sanghera\u2019s hope is that stories of Journeys of Empire \u2013 from pirates to princes and explorers to rebels \u2013 will draw in young readers to a world of curiosity and reflection. He said, \u201cThe British em\u00adpire is a complex story. Even the \u2018good guys\u2019 had flaws. That\u2019s what makes it worth understanding.\u201d <\/p>\n
At the heart of his book is a mes\u00adsage about com\u00adplexity and con\u00adtradiction. \u201cThe empire in\u00advolved slavery and the aboli\u00adtion of slavery. It caused environ\u00admental destruc\u00adtion and inspired environmentalism. We live in a world that struggles with nuance, but that\u2019s what makes us human,\u201d Sanghera said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is that readers \u2013 kids and adults \u2013 learn that opposite things can be true at the same time.\u201d <\/p>\n
After six years of writing about em\u00adpire, Sanghera said he\u2019s ready for a change. His next book will focus on the late pop star George Michael, due out in June next year. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought George Michael would be a nice break from em\u00adpire. But then I learned that his father came from Cyprus – which was un\u00adder British rule. The reason he left Cyprus was because of the British. So, even George Michael\u2019s story connects back to empire. You can\u2019t escape it, wher\u00adever you go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re not taught this history very well,\u201d he told Eastern Eye. \u201cThe empire is morally complex \u2013 sometimes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,22713,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-535491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-south-america","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115457662875632414","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}