The British Empire: Themes and Perspectives / Edition 1

by Sarah E. Stockwell

Overview

This volume adopts a distinctive thematic approach to the history of British imperialism from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. It brings together leading scholars of British imperial history: Tony Ballantyne, John Darwin, Andrew Dilley, Elizabeth Elbourne, Kent Fedorowich, Eliga Gould, Catherine Hall, Stephen Howe, Sarah Stockwell, Andrew Thompson, Stuart Ward, and Jon Wilson.

• Each contributor offers a personal assessment of the topic at hand, and examines key interpretive debates among historians
• Addresses many of the core issues that constitute a broad understanding of the British Empire, including the economics of the empire, the empire and religion, and imperial identities

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781405125345
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	01/29/2008
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sarah Stockwell is senior lecturer in Imperial and Commonwealth History at King’s College London. Her previous publications include The Business of Decolonization: British Business Strategies in the Gold Coast (2000) and Imperial Policy and Colonial Practice 1925-1945 (1996).

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors.

Foreword.

List of Abbreviations.

Maps.

1. Britain’s Empires: John Darwin.

2. Foundations of Empire, 1763-1783: Eliga Gould.

3. Empire and Ideology: Stephen Howe.

4. Empire and the British State: Andrew Thompson.

5. The British Empire on the Move, 1760-1914: Kent Fedorowich.

6. Economics and Empire: Andrew Dilley.

7. Religion in the British Empire: Elizabeth Elbourne.

8. Colonial Knowledge: Tony Ballantyne.

9. Agency, Narrative, and Resistance: Jon E. Wilson.

10. Culture and Identity in Imperial Britain: Catherine Hall.

11. Imperial Identities: Stuart Ward.

12. Ends of Empire: S. E. Stockwell.

Bibliography.

Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"An ideal guide to the enormous breadth, complexity and nuances of a vital historical topic, both for those new to it and even for experts. A remarkably successful blending of history, historiography, analysis and controversy. Freshly written, and remarkably consistent for a multi-authored work."
–Bernard Porter, University of Newcastle

Editorial Reviews

"The British Empire: Themes and Perspectives is an impressive collection of twelve chapters by junior and senior scholars which presents overviews of various areas of scholarship on the British Empire . . . nevertheless, the vast scope of past and present historiography covered in The British Empire: Themes and Perspectives makes it an invaluable companion for students and scholars of the British Empire." (Canadian Journal of History, 1 October 2010)

"By putting the 'old' political, economic, intellectual history in conversation with newer concerns about culture, gender, race, sexuality, identity-formation, and migration, this approach might be a very important way of reinvigorating the study of empire." (Victorian Studies, Autumn 2009)

"It will provide a most stimulating companion for students and researchers alike." (English Historical Review, June 2009)

"This book provides a wide-ranging, judicious, and insightful survey of some of the most important contemporary issues in British imperial and colonial historiography. Editor Stockwell (King's College London) has assembled 12 excellent essays on a representative sample of themes. Stockwell has cut through the polemics that have sometimes characterized scholarly debate in imperial history, demonstrating that the field's strengths are greater than the sum of its parts. Essential." (CHOICE, December 2008)

From the Publisher