David A. Johnson is a Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA with research and teaching interests in British colonial history, transnational history, and urban history.

1. Introduction: 'Seeing Like a (Colonial) State' 2. The Transfer of Britain's Imperial Capital: 'A Bold Stroke of Statesmanship' 3. New Delhi's New Vision for a New Raj: An 'Altar of Humanity' 4. Colonial Finance and the Building of New Delhi: The High Cost of Reform 5. Competing Visions of Empire in the Colonial Built Environment 6. Hardinge's Imperial Delhi Committee and His Architectural Board: The Perfect Building Establishment for the Perfect Colonial Capital 7. The Cultural Politics of Colonial Space: 'A New Jewel in an Old Setting' 8. Land Acquisition, Landlessness, and the Building of New Delhi 9. The Inauguration of New Delhi, 1931: A British Empire for the Twentieth Century

Johnson provides an historically rich examination of the intersection of early twentieth-century imperial culture, imperial politics, and imperial economics as reflected in the colonial built environment at New Delhi, a remarkably ambitious imperial capital built by the British between 1911 and 1931.