The present collection brings together a series of studies by Peter Marshall on British imperial expansion in the later 18th century. Some essays focus on the thirteen North American colonies, the West Indies, and British contact with China; those dealing specifically with India have appeared in the author's Trade and Conquest: Studies on the rise

Contents: Preface; 'A free though conquering people': Britain and Asia in the 18th century; Empire and authority in the later 18th century; The 18th-century Empire; Parliament and property rights in the late 18th-century British Empire; A nation defined by Empire, 1755-76; Empire and opportunity in Britain, 1763-75; Who cared about the thirteen colonies? Some evidence from philanthropy; The case for coercing America before the Revolution; The moral swing to the east: British humanitarianism, India and the West Indies; The Caribbean and India in the later 18th century: two British Empires or one?; Britain and China in the late 18th century; Lord Macartney, India and China: the two faces of the Enlightenment; Britain and the world in the 18th century: I, Reshaping the Empire; II, Britons and Americans; III, Britain and India; IV, The turning outwards of Britain; Index.