Taking a broad, comparative approach to imperial experiences, this volume provides an authoritative survey of the latest research into the histories of modern empires. The focus is on the era of modern imperial history dating approximately from the early sixteenth century to the present. Such a periodization enables the volume to include the European experience of imperial expansion and settlement, important historical experiences outside the west such as those of Russia, Japan and China, the collapse of European empires attendant on decolonization in the post World War II period, and the contemporary example of North America. The companion is divided into three sections, 'Times', 'Spaces' and 'Themes' which allows chronological, geographical and thematical approaches to be successfully combined. In so doing this volume provides a unique research tool that will be invaluable to all students and scholars interested in the history of empires, imperialism and colonialism in the post-classical world.

Contents: Introduction, Philippa Levine and John Marriott; Part I Times: Age of exploration, c.1500-1650, Kenneth J. Andrien; Age of settlement and colonisation, Michael Adas and Hugh Glenn Cagle; Age of imperial crisis, Philippa Levine. Part II Spaces: Late Imperial China (c.1500-1911) , Peter C. Perdue; Ottoman empire, Virginia H. Aksan; Mughal empire, Michael H. Fisher; European empires, Philippa Levine; Russian empire, 1552-1917, Willard Sunderland; North American empire, Mary A. Renda; Japanese empire, Ryuta Itagaki, Satoshi Mizutani and Hideaki Tobe. Part III Themes: Governance, Jon E. Wilson; Finance, Søren Mentz; Consumption, Erika Rappaport; Soldiery, Richard Smith; Circulation and migration, Michael Mann; Crime, Lauren Benton; Slavery, Eve M. Troutt Powell; Race, Damon Salesa; Gender, Elsbeth Locher-Scholten; Ideology, Ben Silverstein and Patrick Wolfe; Religion, Derek R. Peterson; Culture, Lara Kriegel; Art, Natasha Eaton; Science, medicine and technology, Sujit Sivasundaram; Environment, Richard Grove and Vinita Damodaran; Modernity, John Marriott; Aftermath, Christopher J. Lee; Bibliography; Index.

Professor Philippa Levine, University of Texas at Austin, USA and Professor John Marriott, Raphael Samuel History Centre at the University of East London, UK.