The British Empire

Description

Violent, powerful, vast: the British Empire is typically viewed as distant and tropical. By contrast, this book examines the effects of the empire on men, women and children across the globe: both those under imperial rule and those who implemented it.  Looking beyond politics and diplomacy, Philippa Levine combines a traditional approach to colonial history with an investigation of the experience of living within the empire.  

Spanning the period from Cromwell’s rule to decolonization in the late twentieth century, and including an extensive chronology for ease of reference, Levine considers the impact of British rule for people in Africa, India and Australia, as well as for the English rulers, and for the Welsh, Scots and Irish who were subject to 'internal colonialism' under the English yoke. Imperialism often led to serious unrest; Levine examines the cruel side of imperialism’s purportedly 'civilizing' mission unflinchingly.

Contents
1. Uniting the Kingdom
2. Slaves, Merchants and Trade
3. Settling the `New World'
4. After America
5. Britain in India
6. Global Growth
7. Ruling an Empire
8. Being Ruled
9. Gender and Empire
10. Contesting Empire
11. Decolonization
12. Immigration

Features

• An original and personal history of the rise and fall of the powerful British empire
• Presents a cultural view rather than just a political account of events

Author

Philippa Levine teaches history at the Universityof Southern California. A historian of empire since 1990, her publications include Prostitution, Race and Politics: Policing Venereal Disease in the British Empire(2003) and an edited collection, Gender and Empire: History of the British Empire Companion Series (2004).