BLACK HOLE: MONEY, MYTH AND THE EMPIRE

"This book is about a story that entered the national myth-bank, and lodged there with unusual tenacity. As so often with the historical episodes the British take to their hearts, it is a story of heroism in failure, turning a miserable defeat into a matter of national pride. The story was used for good and for ill. All tales of exceptional human bravery and resilience have an important place in our minds, and this one came with other attractive characteristics: the aura of money and battles, of exotic places and people, of youth and daring and living against the odds. There is probably no great harm if a little exaggeration creeps in to such narratives. However, the way in which this particular episode also resonated as a fear of strangeness, and came to epitomize through its very name the savagery of other peoples, is much less savoury."--Jacket.