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Introduction
Linda colley has been living in berlin during russia's invasion of ukraine. She finds it fascinating comparing reactions in germany and britain. In both countries, shock and horror have mingled with dis belief. It would be wrong to attribute such responses only to naivety or ignorance. The surprise that so often colours reactions to this crisis stems too from a tendency to misperceive the nature and longevity of empire. As late the first world war, 11 of the world's 12 most populous polities were unabashedly empires. These present day giants rarely call themselves empires, but like earlier bemoths, they are made up of different peoples and cultures weld