Blood and Bronze

An incisive history revealing Britain’s conquest of the Kingdom of Benin and the plunder of its fabled Bronzes. The Benin Bronzes are among the British Museum’s most prized possessions. Celebrated for their great beauty, they embody the history, myth and artistry of the ancient Kingdom of Benin, once West Africa’s most powerful, and today part of Nigeria. But despite the Bronzes’ renown, little has been written about the brutal imperial violence with which they were plundered. Paddy Docherty’s searing new history tells that story: the 1897 British invasion of Benin. Armed with shocking details discovered in the archives, Blood and Bronze sets this assault in its late Victorian context. As British power faced new commercial and strategic pressures elsewhere, it ruthlessly expanded in West Africa. Revealing both the extent of African resistance and previously concealed British outrages, this is a definitive account of the destruction of Benin. Laying bare the Empire’s true motives and violent means, including the official coverup of grotesque sexual crimes, Docherty demolishes any moral argument for Britain retaining the Bronzes, making a passionate case for their immediate repatriation to Nigeria.

'A powerful and thoughtful exploration of the deep history behind the looting of some of Africa's greatest artistic treasures. If you want to understand why the Benin Bronzes must be returned to Nigeria, read this book.', 'This compelling account of the plunder of Benin provides a deeply disquieting snapshot of the workings of the British Empire in Africa and beyond. There is a manifestly powerful case for restitution and reparation.', '"Blood and Bronze" is a scholarly, forensic and wonderfully readable account of the circumstances leading to the fateful Benin Expedition of 1897 and the looting of the bronzes. Vivid, passionate and compelling, it deserves to be widely read--and surely will be.', 'An absorbing, original and beautifully written historical horror story. Docherty skilfully weaves a rich tale of the almost primal evil inflicted on Benin by the British Empire. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in the unvarnished truth of the "glorious" days of Empire.', 'An audacious and brave narrative about how the Benin Bronzes were looted during the colonial era and exhibited in the British Museum. Careful and lucid, "Blood and Bronze" weaves an engrossing narrative explaining how the theft of cultural artifacts is the theft of culture itself.'

Paddy Docherty is a historian of empire, with a particular interest in the British Empire, anticolonial resistance, and the cultural impact of imperialism. He was educated at the University of Oxford and is the author of 'The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion'.