ABSTRACT

A milestone in the understanding of British history and imperialism, this ground-breaking book radically reinterprets the course of modern economic development and the causes of overseas expansion during the past three centuries. Employing their concept of 'gentlemanly capitalism', the authors draw imperial and domestic British history together to show how the shape of the nation and its economy depended on international and imperial ties, and how these ties were undone to produce the post-colonial world of today.

Containing a significantly expanded and updated Foreword and Afterword, this third edition assesses the development of the debate since the book’s original publication, discusses the imperial era in the context of the controversy over globalization, and shows how the study of the age of empires remains relevant to understanding the post-colonial world. Covering the full extent of the British empire from China to South America and taking a broad chronological view from the seventeenth century to post-imperial Britain today, British Imperialism: 1688–2015 is the perfect read for all students of imperial and global history.

chapter |30 pages

Foreword

The Continuing Debate on Empire

part |85 pages

Introduction, 1688–1914

chapter |40 pages

The Problem and the Context

chapter |43 pages

Prospective

Aristocracy, finance and empire, 1688–1850

part |104 pages

The gentlemanly order, 1850–1914

chapter |30 pages

‘Something Peculiar to England'

The service sector, wealth and power, 1850–1914 1

chapter |16 pages

Gentlemanly Capitalism and Economic Policy

City, government and the ‘national interest', 1850–1914

chapter |17 pages

‘The Great Emporium'

Foreign trade and invisible earnings, 1850–1914 1

chapter |21 pages

Challenging Cosmopolitanism

The tariff problem and imperial unity, 1880–1914

part |193 pages

The wider world, 1815–1914

chapter |42 pages

‘An Extension of the Old Society'

Britain and the colonies of settlement, 1850–1914 1

chapter |35 pages

Calling the New World into Existence

South America, 1815–1914 1

chapter |30 pages

‘Meeting her Obligations to her English Creditors'

India, 1858–1914 1

chapter |39 pages

‘The Imperious and Irresistible Necessity'

Britain and the partition of Africa, 1882–1902 1

chapter |23 pages

‘We Offer Ourselves as Supporters'

The Ottoman Empire and Persia, 1838–1914 1

part |23 pages

Redividing the world

chapter |7 pages

Retrospect

1688–1914

part |6 pages

The empire in the twentieth century

chapter |4 pages

The Imperialist Dynamic

From World War I to decolonisation

part |81 pages

The gentlemanly order, 1914–39

part |134 pages

The wider world, 1914–49

part |43 pages

Losing an empire and finding a role, 1939–2000

chapter |27 pages

Afterword

Empires and globalisation, 1688–2015