British Imperial History

Imperial historians have developed and discarded an astonishing range of concepts and theoretical tools. The British Empire offers us a particularly fertile terrain for the study of the relationship between history and theory, revealing how changing theoretical currents have shaped, and continue to shape, the writing of imperial history.

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Why did the British empire expand so dramatically in the late 18th and 19th centuries – and why did it then collapse so rapidly after the Second World War? Drawing on the latest scholarship from around the world, British Imperial History provides a clear, critical survey of the major concepts and theories used by historians of the modern British empire.

British Imperial History:

- Brings together in a single volume the key ideas used by political, economic, social and cultural historians, using a theoretical rather than a narrative approach
- Examines debates from the origins of British imperialism to decolonization
- Includes a chapter on the recent academic turn towards global history.

This informative guide to the historiography of the British empire is essential for all students of the topic, and is equally useful for those studying historical approaches in general.