Empire: The British Imperial Experience From 1765 To The Present / Edition 1

by Denis Judd

Overview

The British Empire radically altered the modern world. At its height, it governed over a quarter of the human race and encompassed more than a fifth of the globe. As well as providing the British people with profits and a sense of international purpose, the Empire afforded them the opportunity to create new lives for themselves through emigration and settlement. It supplied jobs at home and overseas, encouraged national aggrandizement, and allowed experiments in social engineering. For those it ruled over, the Empire often represented arbitrary power, gunboat diplomacy, and the disruption of local customs, social structures, and government by a distant and sometimes coldly unsympathetic administration. Yet while the Empire rested ultimately upon military force and direct rule, it also pulsated with ideals—ideals of freedom, democracy, and even equality.In this impressively researched and always entertaining book, the esteemed British historian Denis Judd analyzes the imperial experience from the American revolution to the present day. He examines the ways in which the British Empire affected both rulers and ruled, and the roles of significant personalities—from Queen Victoria to Nelson Mandela, Cecil Rhodes to Jomo Kenyatta, Joseph Chamberlain to Mahatma GhandiWhat was so special about the ”special relationship” between Britain and the United States? Did the maintenance of the Empire artificially prolong Britain's Great Power status? Did it encourage chauvinistic, even racist, attitudes? Were subjects better off under their own elites and leaders than under British rule? In the end, what does the balance sheet of the Empire look like? The story of Empire is central to Britain's national mythology and its sense of place in the world, and essential to an understanding of its changing role as we approach the end of the millennium. Denis Judd's fine, magisterial history does full justice to a complex and epic theme.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465019540
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	01/28/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	568
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.40(d)
Lexile:	1500L (what's this?)

About the Author

Denis Judd is a professor of British Imperial and Commonwealth History at the University of North London, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Among his publications are Balfour and the British Empire, Radical Joe: A Life of Joseph Chamberlain, The Victorian Empire, Lord Reading, The Boer War, Someone Has Blundered, Palmerston, The British Raj, Jawaharlal Nehru, and, with Peter Slinn, The Evolution of the Modern Commonwealth.

Table of Contents

	List of Illustrations	x
	Maps	xiv
	Preface	xxi
1	Anatomy of an Empire	1
	An Introduction
2	The American Revolution	18
	The End of the First British Empire?
3	Australia	29
	The First Fleet of 1788, and the Subsequent Settlements
	Gold, Wool and Responsible Government
4	Ireland	40
	The Union of 1800
	The Agitation for Home Rule and its Partial Resolution
	Problems of Identity as Both Imperial Partner and Subordinate Nation
5	Canada	50
	The Rebellions of 1837
	The Durham Report
	Responsible Government
	Settlement and Expansion
	Inter-Colonial Rivalries
	The 1867 Confederation
6	The Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846	58
	The Economics of Empire
7	The Great Indian Uprising of 1857-58	66
	The British in India
8	The Jamaica Rebellion of 1865	82
	British Interests in the Caribbean and the 'Nigger Question'
9	The Opening of the Suez Canal in 1869	92
	Britain in Egypt and the Sudan
	Gordon at Khartoum, and Kitchener's Reconquest of the Sudan
10	The Battle of Majuba Hill, 1881	104
	Bantu, Briton and Boer in South Africa
	From the British Annexation of the Cape to the Convention of London 1884
11	Cecil Rhodes' Legacy	117
	Fantasy, Power and the Partition of Africa
12	Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, 1897	130
	The Uses and the Misuses of Empire
	An Imperial Triumph, or Whistling in the Dark?
	Fin de Siecle and the Problems and Opportunities of Empire
13	The Battle of Spion Kop, 1900	154
	Crisis, War and Union in South Africa
14	The Suicide of Sir Hector MacDonald, 1903	171
	Sex and the British Empire
15	Joseph Chamberlain and the Cabinet Split of 1903	187
	Tariff Reform, Economic Decline and Imperial Preference
16	Scouting for Boys, 1908	201
	National Decline, Empire, Youth and Education
17	The Imperial Conference of 1911	214
	The Unity and Disunity of the Empire, Pan-Anglo-Saxonism, and the Pax Britannica
18	The Gandhi--Smuts Agreement of January 1914	226
	Anti-Imperialism, Resistance Movements, and 'Occidentalism' verses 'Orientalism'
19	The 1916 Easter Uprising in Ireland	242
	Britain, the Empire and the First World War
20	The Amritsar Massacre of 1919	258
	Gandhi, the Raj and the Growth of Indian Nationalism, 1915-39
21	The 1924 British Empire Wembley Exhibition	273
	Selling and Buying the Empire-Commonwealth in the InterWar Years
22	The Balfour Definition of Dominion Status, 1926	287
	The Empire's Constitution, Trade and Development Between the Wars
23	The Bodyline Tour of Australia, 1932	297
	Imperialism, National Identity and Sport
24	The Fall of Singapore, February 1942	310
	Britain, the Empire-Commonwealth and the Second World War
25	The Partition of India, 1947	323
	The Labour Government and the Empire-Commonwealth, 1945 to 1951
26	The Trial of Jomo Kenyatta, 1953	346
	Churchill's Return to Power in Britain
	The Conservative 'Holding Operation'
	Confrontations with Nationalist movements in Egypt, Cyprus, West and East Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean
27	The Suez Crisis of 1956	359
	The Fall of the British Empire and the Rise of the Commonwealth--and the Common Market
28	Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, November 1965	372
	Variable Winds of Change, and Wilson's Labour Government, 1964 to 1970
29	The Declaration of Commonwealth Principles at Singapore, 1971	387
	The Commonwealth During the 1970s
30	The Falklands War, 1982	402
	The Remnants of Empire
31	The Inauguration of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa, May 1994	410
	Post-Colonialism and the Balance Sheet of Empire
	Chronology 1765-2001	433
	Notes	471
	Bibliography	481
	Index	503

What People are Saying About This

John Keegan

"Written with great thoroughness and keen analysis. [Empire] will become an indispensable one-volume source for anyone concerned to know about the most important non-domestic institution created by the British during their existence as a single nation."

Robert Cole

"Among the most readable and astute examinations of British imperial history ever written. Its judgment is critical but fair. It is the culmination of a career of research and thinking about the British Empire, and it clearly reflects that both have been thorough. Truly a Magnum Opus."

Peter Weilder

"Empire stands alone as a survey of the history of the modern British Empire. Unlike conventional narratives of British expansion, which focus narrowly on politics, Empire provides an excellent introduction to the British imperial experience in all its complexity, including issues of gender, race, sexuality, and national identity."

C.A. Bayly

"Judd intercuts his narrative with lively, well-balanced summaries of even the most rebarbative current historiographical debates. Empire is thoroughly readable and can be recommended to students as much as to the general reader."

Andrew Roberts

"An excellent new study . . . Judd writes with a freshness and willingness to challenge historical convention that makes this compelling reading . . . A refreshing willingness to indulge in 'what if' speculation also shows Judd at his revisionist best."

Walter Nugent

"Denis Judd deserves to be better known in the United States, and this book will make him so. It is a vividly readable history of the rise, spread, and disappearance of the British imperium since 1765. Judd tells it all, accurately and without chauvinism."

Linda Colley

"Wonderfully ambitious . . . a pungent and attractive survey [that] expertly summarizes current debates."

Editorial Reviews

"Empire stands alone as a survey of the British Empire…it provides an excellent introduction to the British imperial experience in all its complexity, including issues of gender, race, sexuality, and national identity." - Peter Weiler, Professor of History, Boston College

"Denis Judd deserves to be better known in the United States, and this book will make him so. It is a vividly readable history of the rise, spread and fall of British imperium since 1765. Judd tells it all, accurately and without chauvinism." - Walter Nugent, Tackes Professor Emeritus of History, Notre Dame University

"Among the most readable and astute examinations of British imperial history ever written. Its judgement is critical but fair. It is the culmination of a career of research and thinking about the British Empire, and it clearly reflects that both have been thorough. Truly a Magnum Opus." - Robert Cole, Professor of History, Utah State University

"An excellent book…The treatment by Professor Judd cannot be faulted…[he] comes to balanced and sensible conclusions…He also gives an admirable chronology." - The Times

"The best general history on the subject now available…always stimulating and absorbing and sometimes an unrivalled tour d'horizon." - Irish Times

"An excellent new study…compelling reading. A refreshing willingness to indulge in 'what if' speculations also shows Judd at his revisionist best." - Andrew Roberts, Sunday Times

"A superb, immense and very splendid book." - Tony Palmer, BBC Radio 3, Nightwaves

"Wonderfully ambitious…a pungent and attractive survey of the British Empire." - Linda Colley, London Review of Books

"Denis Judd has provided a valuable and sometimes innovative synthesis…Each chapter begins with a vivid narrative of a key event… [there is] the skill with which Judd intercuts his narrative with lively and well-balanced summaries of even the most rebarbative current historical debates." - Times Higher Education Supplement

"This excellent book…It is one of the merits of Judd's book that he helps to restore the balance between the good and the bad, and the ugly, and in so doing helps us the better to understand the Empire in all its complexity. He brings impressive credentials to his task, the scale of which is enormous…he has wisely opted for a thematic approach. His style is clear and readable. The story of the Empire is not yet over, nor its epitaph written, but this book is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of that story thus far." - Glasgow Herald

"This book is in many ways the culminating work of Professor Judd's career, bringing together immense erudition, genuine narrative gifts and a capacity to pick out important details from a vast range of materials…Judd's narrative method is highly original." - National Review

From the Publisher