Revisiting the British World

Since the publication of Phillip Buckner and R. Douglas Francis’ ground-breaking Rediscovering the British World, there has not been a collection of essays that looks at the history of the British World from an all-round thematic perspective. This edited collection defines the British World as a global community in which members identified themselves predominantly as British and considered the United Kingdom (UK) to be at its centre. The chapters in the volume focus upon diverse aspects of British identity and its interrelation with the history of Britain’s former settler-colonies and other regions of British settlement. Drawing upon new research from established scholars, early career researchers, and doctoral students, the edited collection aims to offer new voices and perspectives to the study of the British World. The book will appeal to both scholars and students of the history of the British World and British imperial history, as well as the national histories of Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, India, and the UK.


Contents: Jatinder Mann / Iain Johnston-White: Introduction: Revisiting the British World – André Brett: "The History of This Colony Is One of Dismemberment": Territorial Separation Movements and New Colonies in Australasia, 1820s–1900 – Sucharita Sen: Colonial Encounters and the Sahib-Subject Relationship in Anglo-Indian Households – Danielle E. Lorenz: Reading Settler-Colonial Discourses: An Analysis of Two Ontario Public School History Textbooks from 1921 – Karen Fox: Melbamania: Nellie Melba and Celebrity in the British World – Paul Kiem: Vasco Loureiro—British World Bohemian – Richard Scully: "For gorsake, stop laughing! This is serious": The British World as a Community of Cartooning and Satirical Art – William A. Stoltz: Agent of Empire: Australia’s Tradition of Imperial Internationalism – Jatinder Mann: The End of the British World and the Redefinition of Citizenship in Australia, Canada, and Aotearoa New Zealand, 1960s–1970s – Andrew Kelly: The Antipodes at the Crossroads: Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Great Powers at the End of Empire – Iain Johnston-White / Jatinder Mann: Conclusion: Why Revisit the British World?