The British Empire: Past and Present

Examines how and why a small nation in the North Atlantic developed and lost a vast empire whose influence was felt across the globe and is still detected today. Also examines the role of violence, slavery and other systems of unfree labor, state politics, gender and race, as well as the exchange of commodities, ideas and people in forging and breaking imperial ties. Considers shifting power dynamics between colonizer and colonized and the nature of local experiences in the colonies. By focusing on imperial encounters in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific, we ask how Britain and its colonies shaped each other?s histories before, during and long after the heyday of European overseas empire.