The empire project: the rise and fall of the British world-system, 1830-1970

Introduction : the project of an empire

Part I: Towards 'the sceptre of the world' : the elements of empire in the long nineteenth century

Victorian origins

The octopus power

The commercial republic

The Britannic experiment

'Un-British rule' in 'Anglo-India'

The weakest link : Britain in South Africa

The Edwardian transition

Part II: 'The great liner is sinking' : the British world-system in the age of war

The war for empire, 1914-1919

Making imperial peace, 1919-1926

Holding the centre, 1927-1937

The strategic abyss, 1937-1942

The price of survival, 1943-1951

The third world power, 1951-1959

Reluctant retreat, 1959-1968

Conclusion.

The project of an empire

Towards 'the sceptre of the world' : the elements of empire in the long nineteenth century

Victorian origins

The octopus power

The commercial republic

The Britannic experiment

'Un-British rule' in 'Anglo-India'

The weakest link: Britain in South Africa

The Edwardian transition

'The great liner is sinking' : the British world-system in the age of war

The war for empire, 1914-1919

Making imperial peace, 1919-1926

Holding the centre, 1927-1937

The strategic abyss, 1937-1942

The price of survival, 1943-1951

The third world power, 1951-1959

Reluctant retreat, 1959-1968.

Introduction : the project of an empire

Towards 'the sceptre of the world' : the elements of empire in the long nineteenth century

Victorian origins

The octopus power

The commercial republic

The Britannic experiment

'Un-British rule' in 'Anglo-India'

The weakest link : Britain in South Africa

The Edwardian transition

'The great liner is sinking' : the British world-system in the age of war

The war for empire, 1914-1919

Making imperial peace, 1919-1926

Holding the centre, 1927-1937

The strategic abyss, 1937-1942

The price of survival, 1943-1951

The third world power, 1951-1959

Reluctant retreat, 1959-1968.