Robert Gildea is Professor of Modern History at Worcester College at the University of Oxford

Prize-winning historian Robert Gildea dissects the legacy of empire for the former colonial powers and their subjects.

List of illustrations; Introduction; 1. Empires constructed and contested; 2. Empires in crisis: two world wars; 3. The imperialism of decolonisation; 4. Neo-colonialism, new global empire; 5. Colonising in reverse and colonialist backlash; 6. Europe: in or out?; 7. Islamism and the retreat to monocultural nationalism; 8. Hubris and nemesis: Iraq, the colonial fracture and global economic crisis; 9. The empire strikes back; 10. Fantasy, anguish and working through; Conclusion; Acknowledgements; Notes; Bibliography; Index.