The Absent-Minded Imperialists: Empire, Society, and Culture in Britain / Edition 1

by Bernard Porter

Overview

The British empire was a huge enterprise. To foreigners it more or less defined Britain in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its repercussions in the wider world are still with us today. One might expect this to have been reflected in her society and culture. This is the first book to examine this assumption critically against the broader background of contemporary British society. Bernard Porter, a leading imperial historian, argues that the empire had a far lower profile in Britain than it did abroad. He argues that though Britain was an imperial nation in this period, she was never a genuine imperial society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199299591
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/28/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	504
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.10(d)

Table of Contents

1. Empire and Society2. Participation3. The Prefects4. The Middle Classes at School5. Trade, Liberty, and Empire: the Middle Classes to 18806. Not in Front of the Servants7. Culture and Empire8. Peril and Propaganda c.19009. What About the Workers? 10. Imperialists, Other Imperialists, and Others11. Empire on Condition 1914-4012. Repercussions13. Recapitulation and ConclusionBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"For any serious student of the British Empire, this book is indispensable reading."—John McBratney, The Historian

From the Publisher