I think I've mentioned before that I have developed a habit of listening to controversial audiobooks while running. Ideally, it should be something I disagree with a bit but not out-and-out frothing awfulness. People like Ferguson, Douglas Murray and Peter Hitchens are perfect for this because I get a mixture of thought-provoking passages and chapters that make me want to scream in frustration, and this boosts the adrenaline and makes me run faster.
Considered from that point of view, this was a tiny bit disappointing because he's not in full own-the-libs mode. He criticises the empire a lot but differentiates it from other regimes (tha nazis for example) with whom it is sometimes stupidly compared. All in all, fairly tame, really, and I hold Ferguson personally responsible for my lacklustre 10k time.
It's quite a good history though, tracing the empire's ramschakle growth through trade, piracy, well-meaning missionaries and ruthless bastards, outlining the crimes, the unintended consequences and the legacy, both good and bad. He comes to bury the empire, not praise it, and he's a pretty good undertaker.