Empire

Imperial Britain appealed to the men of its colonies to come to the aid of the Mother Country during the First World War. Many did so but their contribution has not always been honoured, says Stephen Bourne.

J.A. Boyle describes how, in 1258, the Mongol Khans from Persia captured the Caliphate of Bagdad and international contacts followed with the European powers.

A. Compton Reeves describes the events of 1435, the year when the rule of the house of Lancaster began to decline in England as well as France.

Conrad Dixon describes how, in the service of the Dutch East India Company, Pelsaert of Antwerp was the first European to spend some time on shore.

Iris Macfarlane describes how the East India Company in 1714-17 sought to flatter the Mughal Emperor.

Constance Head describes how, in the tenth century, a scholarly young man and an ambitious admiral presided over the large Byzantine empire.

D.G. Chandler introduces Marlborough; a man, ‘whose mind was not confined to battle ... at once a captain and a diplomatist,’ as Napoleon a century later said of the British commander.

J.J. Saunders describes the Papal envoy to the Mongol conquerors who travelled through Russia to eastern Asia in 1245-7.

J.W. Blake describes the development of a maritime empire of trade, built by traders.

Iris Macfarlane describes how the Malabar coast in western India was the earliest scene of European sea-borne trade.