The Quest for Englishness
Paul Rich describes how the aggressive imperialism of the late Victorian age co-existed uneasily with the intellectual search for English 'roots' in a pre-industrial and mythical past.
Empire
West Africa’s Mary Kingsley
‘England… requires markets more than colonies.’ Mary Kingsley’s espousal of the African cause was founded on the empathy between second-class citizens in a white, male-dominated society, as Deborah Birkett reveals.
Images of Ireland, 1170-1600: The Origins of English Imperialism
'Beyond the pale' - the imperialists' vision of the Irish as ignoble savages originated in the attitudes and writings of medieval Englishmen.
Imperial Images: The Empire Marketing Board, 1926-32
Buying and selling with our 'kith and kin' was the hallmark of an intensive inter-war campaign for the idea of Empire.
Eugenfest
Philip Mansel looks at the commemorations surrounding the 250th anniversary of the death of a Habsburg monarch.
The Games Ethic and Imperialism
Victor Bailey reviews two titles on Empire and Culture.
The Portuguese Voyages of Discovery
Helen Wallis charts the Portugal's astonishing success in voyages of exploration between 1415 and 1520
The Fall of the Angevin Empire
A damned inheritance, hopelessly over-extended and out-resourced by the kings of France? Or an effective empire thrown away by incompetence and harshness? John Gillingham weighs the blame for John's loss of the Angevin dominions.
Cultural Decolonisation: UNESCO & Africa
John D. Hargreaves discusses cultural reconstruction and its political implications.
The Angevin Empire
The Angevin Empire may have come about by a mixture of luck and calculation, but skill and respect for local custom were required for Henry II to preserve it intact.