Examines the rise of the British empire and the various debates among historians of imperialism over the past two hundred years. It discusses why the empire is so attractive to historians, why there is so much debate and controversy surrounding the subject.

Anthony Webster is Head of History at Edge Hill College of Higher Education

1. The British Empire: an enduring fascination
2. Justifying British imperialism: the changing rationale of the empire builders
3. Capitalism's critics and defenders: early twentieth century economic explanations of Victorian British imperial expansion
4. Metropole, periphery and informal empire: the Gallagher and Robinson controversy of the 1950s and after
5. Cultural explanations of British imperialism I: post colonial theory and its critics
6. Cultural explanations of British imperialism II: religion, race, gender and class
7. The metropole strikes back: the new debate about gentlemanly capitalism and empire 1980-2004
8. The future of Britain's imperial history?
Further reading