This text helps students understand world history by focusing on an issue that has profoundly shaped the modern world order: the establishment and collapse of global empires since 1750. An Imperial World uses a combination of primary documents and analytical essays, both tightly focused around four case studies: India, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. It examines the historical development of colonial systems and shows their enormous role in shaping the modern world order. It is meant to be thematic and suggestive, offering arguments and information to serve as a starting point for discussion and exploration.

Ireland in an Imperial World interrogates the myriad ways through which Irish men and women experienced, participated in, and challenged empires in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Most importantly, they were integral players simultaneously managing and undermining the British Empire, and through their diasporic communities, they built sophisticated arguments that aided challenges to other imperial projects. In emphasizing the interconnections between Ireland and the wider British and Irish worlds, this book argues that a greater appreciation of empire is essential for enriching our understanding of the development of Irish society at home. Moreover, these thirteen essays argue plainly that Ireland was on the cutting edge of broader global developments, both in configuring and dismantling Europe’s overseas empires.

At the start of the Second World War, Britain was at the height of its imperial power, and it is no surprise that it drew upon the global resources of the Empire once war had been declared. Whilst this international aspect of Britain’s war effort has been well-studied in relation to the military contribution of individual dominions and colonies, relatively little has been written about the Empire as a whole. As such, An Imperial World at War makes an important contribution to the historiography relating to the British Empire and its wartime experience. It argues that the war needs to be viewed in imperial terms, that the role of forces drawn from the Empire is poorly understood and that the war's impact on colonial societies is barely grasped at all in conventional accounts. Through a series of case studies, the volume demonstrates the fundamental role played by the Empire in Britain’s war effort and highlights some of the consequences for both Britain and its imperial territories.Themes include the recruitment and utilization of military formations drawn from imperial territories, the experience of British forces stationed overseas, the use of strategic bases located in the colonies, British policy in the Middle East and the challenge posed by growing American power, the occupation of enemy colonies and the enemy occupation of British colonies, colonial civil defence measures, financial support for the war effort supplied by the Empire, and the commemoration of the war. The Afterword anticipates a new, decentred history of the war that properly acknowledges the role and importance of people and places throughout the colonial and semi-colonial world.’ This volume emanates from a conference organized as part of the ‘Home Fronts of the Empire – Commonwealth’ project. The project was generously funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and led by Yasmin Khan and Ashley Jackson with Gajendra Singh as Postdoctoral Research Assistant.

Britain and Empire fills a major gap in the literature on Britain’s gradual abandonment of her global and imperial role. It relates formal decolonization and the wider evolution of the Commonwealth to changes in international relations and in Britain’s domestic political, economic, and social scene. The concept of imperial decline is therefore seen in the context of adjustment to changing international and domestic politics and the ending of the imperial mind-set.

This pioneering 2006 volume addresses the question of how Britain's empire was lived through everyday practices - in church and chapel, by readers at home, as embodied in sexualities or forms of citizenship, as narrated in histories - from the eighteenth century to the present. Leading historians explore the imperial experience and legacy for those located, physically or imaginatively, 'at home,' from the impact of empire on constructions of womanhood, masculinity and class to its influence in shaping literature, sexuality, visual culture, consumption and history-writing. They assess how people thought imperially, not in the sense of political affiliations for or against empire, but simply assuming it was there, part of the given world that had made them who they were. They also show how empire became a contentious focus of attention at certain moments and in particular ways. This will be essential reading for scholars and students of modern Britain and its empire.

The British Imperial Century provides a concise but comprehensive overview of the formation and administration of the empire from its origins in the early nineteenth century, to its climax at mid-century and ultimate denouement on the eve of the First World War.Considering the impact of British imperial rule and influence on subject peoples, Timothy H. Parsons explores the themes of cross-cultural social and environmental interaction from a world history perspective. He traces the transition from informal to formal empire, which broadened and intensified Britain's relations with Asia, Africa, and the western hemisphere. The establishment of extensive colonies and protectorates in Africa, the occupation of Egypt, the declaration of the Raj in India, and increased economic and political intervention in Latin America and in the Chinese and Ottoman empires brought ever-larger numbers of non-European peoples and cultures under either the influence or direct authority of the British Crown. By considering British imperialism through the lens of world history, Parsons moves beyond questions of Britain's motives in acquiring more territory to ask how it was able to acquire such an empire. As a global network of exchanges, the British Empire linked disparate regions in a series of distinct but overlapping exchanges. By co-opting and adapting the values and customs of their subjects imperial rulers strengthened their authority and legitimacy, but in doing so produced a hybrid culture that was largely British in style but not entirely British in substance. An ambitious and thoughtful contribution, The British Imperial Century will be invaluable for courses on world history and European history and as a supplement for courses on African, Asian, British, and Middle Eastern history.

'An exceptional account.' Prospect 'Enlightening.' Spectator For the first time in millennia we live without formal empires. But that doesn't mean we don't feel their presence rumbling through history. The Great Imperial Hangover examines how the world's imperial legacies are still shaping the thorniest issues we face today. From Russia's incursions in the Ukraine to Brexit; from Trump's 'America-first' policy to China's forays into Africa; from Modi's India to the hotbed of the Middle East, Puri provides a bold new framework for understanding the world's complex rivalries and politics. Organised by region, and covering vital topics such as security, foreign policy, national politics and commerce, The Great Imperial Hangover combines gripping history and astute analysis to explain why the history of empire affects us all in profound ways.