Imperial Vanities

A true story of empire set in the Crimea, Sudan, Ceylon and Egypt – beautifully written and shot through with real psychological and historical insight.

'Victorian Britain, that seemingly most conformist of ages, was in fact teeming with eccentrics. The fabulous Baker Brothers were eccentric in a conformist way for the time: Sir Samuel searched for the source of the Nile; Baker Pasha became leader of the Ottoman army. But it was that epitome of empire, and epitome of the Christian English gentleman, who was the most peculiar of them all: 'Chinese' Gordon is finally depicted as the anarchist he really was as he marched to his death against the Mahdi. It is Thompson's triumph that he gives these characters, straitjacketed first by their time, and then by history, the freedom to dance across the page once more.' JUDITH FLANDERS

Imperial Vanities is an adventure story in the high tradition, ranging from the Upper Nile, to Ceylon, Egypt and the slave markets of the Balkans. Livingstone, Speke and Burton also make an appearance, with the shadowy and elusive Laurence Oliphant spying from the sidelines. Written with Thompson's masterly touch, this is history at its best.

'A tale of Empire at its most eccentric. Part biography, part history, part adventure yarn, Imperial Vanities is an ingeniously enjoyable read.' Fergus Fleming

Reviews

On Brian Thompson’s previous book:

'Georgina Weldon's life is a story so richly worth telling as to make the common run of biographies seem sadly dull. Elegant in style, at once sensational and substantial in content, this book is a surprise and delight.'’ Lucy Hughes Hallet, Sunday Times

‘One of the funniest books of the year. It would take a heart of stone not to laugh at Mrs Weldon's disastrous career.' Miranda Seymour, TLS

'Georgina Weldon is the kind of subject biographers dream about…But what makes Thompson's extraordinarily accomplished book so marvellous is his ability to get inside her preposterous skin.' Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Telegraph

About the author

Brian Thompson is a novelist and playwright. His first work of non-fiction, A Monkey Amongst Crocodiles: The Disastrous Life of Mrs Georgina Weldon was published to universal acclaim by HarperCollins in May 2000.