No where near as bad as some say it is

Having skimmed through some of the negative reviews on this site and the Amazon.co.uk site, it would appear that this engaging history series (of which I've seen three episodes on DVD) is perceived by some to be somewhat chauvinistic in tone and something of a whitewash of past atrocities committed by Western governments.

Well, arguably, Western Civilization has evolved to be somewhat superior to non-Western civilization(s). How come so many non-Westerners flock in such incredibly large numbers to get into Western countries? It's because they know that Western countries are way ahead than their native countries in terms of what they have to offer. My wife is a non-Westerner who is of the opinion that Western countries are, on the whole, somewhat more superior than non-Western countries, particularly when it comes to her own native picturesque, funky but utterly corrupt country. Any reasonably intelligent individual listening to her very reasonable arguments would probably not accuse her of being chauvinistic (No doubt, it is more likely that I WOULD be accused of being chauvinistic, though, since I am a white Westerner). I don't think that Ferguson whitewashes bad things done by Western governments in the series. He points out at length that the Germans did appalling things in Africa, for example. One reviewer - I think this was on the Amazon.co.uk site - expressed annoyance that Ferguson failed to mention what b@stards the Brits were in China during the 19th century Opium Wars. The point of that particular episode in the series was to point out that Britain was a more dominant power than the Chinese were at the time due to the Brits having a more competitive streak than the Chinese. Going on at length about how nasty the British were would not have been germane to the topic. Regarding British colonialism, it wasn't only about enriching British business people, British military leaders, British government officials, etc. As Ferguson and other authors who've written books about the British empire have pointed out in their books, without encouragement and support from the British, there would not have been an Indian elite capable of leading an independence movement. As such authors have also pointed out the fact that such a small number of Brits were able to hold sway over such a large number of Indians is indicative that the average Indian probably regarded the British as fairer rulers than some Maharajah or the other. Going back to the Chinese, the British and human rights. Which society is ahead in terms of human rights today?

Anyway, based on my viewing of the series so far, I'd say to anyone who is wondering whether or not they should see it that if they're interested in the topic and enjoy engaging and lively documentaries, they should.