WhatsApp Pin Share Email 599 SharesAt its height, the British Empire was the largest to have ever existed. 6 The Cyprus InternmentThe big myth of the British Empire is that it nobly withdrew from its colonies when it realized the days of Imperialism were over. 4 The Partitioning Of IndiaAs a servant of the British Empire in 1947, Cyril Radcliffe has the distinction of killing more people with the stroke of a pen than anyone else in history. A proud Christian who believed the famine was God’s way of punishing the “lazy” Irish, Trevelyan was also a fierce devotee of Adam Smith. At the time, the extent of suffering was put down to an incompetent British government too busy dealing with a war to look after its empire properly.