Professor says he is a victim of 'Black Lives Matter moral panic' after his biography of imperialist Sir Alan Burns was cancelled following a petition started by communist philosopher

A book on a British imperialist has been cancelled by a publisher, with the author blaming ‘this year's Black Lives Matter moral panic’.

Oxford-educated Professor Bruce Gilley said his tome The Last Imperialist: Sir Alan Burns' Epic Defense of the British Empire had now been axed.

It had been due to be sold by publisher Rowman & Littlefield and he was also supposed to have a volume of books on the ‘Problems of Anti-Colonialism’ put out by Lexington Books. Both have been cancelled.

It came after a petition against the book by Joshua Moufawad-Paul, a Maoist philosopher, collected almost a thousand signatures.

Professor Moufawad-Paul claimed ‘pro-colonial’ Professor Gilley endorsed ‘a white nationalist perspective’.

Oxford-educated Professor Bruce Gilley says he has been a victim of 'cancel culture'

In a comment piece on the cancellation, Prof Gilley said: ‘The Last Imperialist is the culmination of five years of intensive primary source research into the life of Burns, who was governor of the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and a prominent critic of rapid decolonization while serving at the United Nations after World War II.

‘The book passed peer review with Lexington Books last December, and it carried endorsements from two giants in the field of colonial history, Jeremy Black and Tirthankar Roy. The book was already being sold to distributors and stores.

‘The series, “Problems of Anti-Colonialism,” of which I was a co-editor, had also gone through a peer-review process. The series was planned as a forum for critical responses to the anticolonial and “decolonizing” intellectual projects that have become pervasive in global politics.’

He added in the Wall Street Journal piece: ‘I attribute the ease and suddenness of my latest cancellation to this year’s Black Lives Matter moral panic. It has taken cultural totalitarianism to new levels, challenging the U.S. ethic of freedom.’

Academics at war: Professors Bruce Gilley and Joshua Moufawad-Paul

The cancelled book retailed for £100

The Black Lives Matter movement in America was sparked by the tragic death of George Floyd on May 25.

He was seen shouting 'I can't breathe' as police knelt on his neck for almost eight minutes before he died. 

It led to global protests and calls for police reform and huge rallies in US cities and states. 

Tirthankar Roy, professor of economic history at the London School of Economics, said in a letter to Lexington Books: "I take only one kind of historical scholarship seriously, one based on evidence and explaining a process of change — the manuscript passed that test, not only for me, but also the referees.

'That it could be an apology for empires, whatever that idiotic expression means, never crossed my mind, I do not think this book was one.' 

Burns notice: Who was Sir Alan?

Sir Alan Burns was in the Colonial Service

Sir Alan Burns is a figure associated with Imperialism due to his role in Britain’s Colonial Service.

His positions included Adjutant of the Nigeria Land Contingent as well as private secretary to Sir Frederick Lugard and Hugh Clifford during their times as Governors.

In 1941 Burns was appointed Governor of the Gold Coast as well as five months as Acting Governor of Nigeria.

The following year got the Colonial Office to admit Africans onto the Executive Council of the Governor of the Gold Coast.

He became mired in controversy in 1943, when a ritual murder took place in Kyebi which saw eight men convicted of the murder.

The accused launched appeals on the basis of white oppression and smeared Burns for supporting the court’s decision.

It dragged on for years and he resigned as Governor shortly before he was vindicated.

He then served as Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom on the UN Trusteeship Council from 1947 until his retirement in 1956.