Man, I wish I could have that book.![]()
Very good read, if rather old by now and probably supplemented with better material in many specifics.
But the general stuff it talks about is enormously relevant to understanding both history - and what kind of turns PODs will take in alternate history, because the kind of issues OTL France struggled with will be there unless your POD changes them, for instance.
And geography plays a significant - not all dominating, but significant - role in shaping what happens and doesn't. France's OTL decisions on expansion is not a result of French stupidity, for instance. So "What if France focused on the navy and India?" has to face the reasons why France didn't - and what made that the case.
Not sure how much so in these categories. I don't have statistics to argue one way or another, however, beyond just manufacturing production (which Jasen beat me to posting).Now that's one problem: I was referring to British Empire, which includes India and White Dominions. Therefore the actual economic outcome of the entire Empire was much greater than what was stated on the book.