The Absent-Minded Imperialists

The Absent-Minded Imperialists PDF Author: Bernard Porter
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191513415
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
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. It also had a great impact on Britain herself: for example, on her economy, security, population, and eating habits. One might expect this to have been reflected in her society and culture. Indeed, this has now become the conventional wisdom: that Britain was steeped in imperialism domestically, which affected (or infected) almost everything Britons thought, felt, and did. 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. Many Britons could hardly have been aware of it for most of the nineteenth century and only a small number was in any way committed to it. Between these extremes opinions differed widely over what was even meant by the empire. This depended largely on class, and even when people were aware of the empire, it had no appreciable impact on their thinking about anything else. Indeed, the influence far more often went the other way, with perceptions of the empire being affected (or distorted) by more powerful domestic discourses. Although Britain was an imperial nation in this period, she was never a genuine imperial society. As well as showing how this was possible, Porter also discusses the implications of this attitude for Britain and her empire, and for the relationship between culture and imperialism more generally, bringing his study up to date by including the case of the present-day USA.

The Absent-Minded Imperialists

The Absent-Minded Imperialists PDF Author: Bernard Porter
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191513415
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 506

Get Book

Book Description
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. It also had a great impact on Britain herself: for example, on her economy, security, population, and eating habits. One might expect this to have been reflected in her society and culture. Indeed, this has now become the conventional wisdom: that Britain was steeped in imperialism domestically, which affected (or infected) almost everything Britons thought, felt, and did. 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. Many Britons could hardly have been aware of it for most of the nineteenth century and only a small number was in any way committed to it. Between these extremes opinions differed widely over what was even meant by the empire. This depended largely on class, and even when people were aware of the empire, it had no appreciable impact on their thinking about anything else. Indeed, the influence far more often went the other way, with perceptions of the empire being affected (or distorted) by more powerful domestic discourses. Although Britain was an imperial nation in this period, she was never a genuine imperial society. As well as showing how this was possible, Porter also discusses the implications of this attitude for Britain and her empire, and for the relationship between culture and imperialism more generally, bringing his study up to date by including the case of the present-day USA.

The Absent-minded Imperialists

The Absent-minded Imperialists PDF Author: Bernard Porter
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0199299595
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 498

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Book Description
A controversial new study from a leading Empire historian, this work argues that the Empire made very little impact on daily life in Victorian Britain.

The Lion's Share

The Lion's Share PDF Author: Bernard Porter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317860381
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
As well as presenting a lively narrative of events, Bernard Porter explores a number of broad analytical themes, challenging more conventional and popular interpretations. He sees imperialism as a symptom not of Britain's strength in the world, but of her decline; and he argues that the empire itself both aggravated and obscured deep-seated malaise in the British economy.

Imperialism

Imperialism PDF Author: John Atkinson Hobson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description


The Empire Strikes Back?

The Empire Strikes Back? PDF Author: Andrew S. Thompson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317873882
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
`The Empire Strikes Back' will inject the empire back into the domestic history of modern Britain. In the nineteenth century and for much of the twentieth century, Britain's empire was so large that it was truly the global superpower. Much of Africa, Asia and America had been subsumed. Britannia's tentacles had stretched both wide and deep. Culture, Religion, Health, Sexuality, Law and Order were all impacted in the dominated countries. `The Empire Strikes Back' shows how the dependent states were subsumed and then hit back, affecting in turn England itself.

Eco-Imperialism Green Power, Black Death

Eco-Imperialism Green Power, Black Death PDF Author: Paul Driessen
Publisher: Academic Foundation
ISBN: 9788171884278
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description


Ain't My America

Ain't My America PDF Author: Bill Kauffman
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780805082449
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Passionate and witty, Ain't my America is an eye-opening exploration of the rich, honorable, and absurdly under-known history of right-wing peace movements. Pointing toward a "Little American" alternative to the bipartisan imperialism that reigns in today's Washington, it is also a clarion manifesto for the antiwar conservatives of today. -- from dust jacket.

Empire Ways

Empire Ways PDF Author: Bernard Porter
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 085772617X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
The British Empire was an astonishingly complex and varied phenomenon, not to be reduced to any of the simple generalisations or theories that are often taken to characterise it. One way of illustrating this, and so conveying some of the subtle flavour of the thing itself, is to descend from the over-arching to the particular, and describe and discuss aspects of it in detail. This book, by the well-known imperial historian Bernard Porter, ranges among a wide range of the events and personalities that shaped or were shaped by British imperialism, or by its decline in the post-war years. These include chapters on science, drugs, battles, proconsuls, an odd assortment of imperialists including Kipling, Lady Hester Stanhope and TE Lawrence, architecture, music, the role of MI6 and the reputation of the Empire since its demise. Together the chapters inform, explain, provoke, and occasionally amuse; but above all they demonstrate the kaleidoscopic variety and ambivalence of Britain s imperial history."

Liberalism, Imperialism, and the Historical Imagination

Liberalism, Imperialism, and the Historical Imagination PDF Author: Theodore Koditschek
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139494880
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
This book examines the ways in which imperial agendas informed the writing of history in nineteenth-century Britain and how historical writing transformed imperial agendas. Using the published writings and personal papers of Walter Scott, J. A. Froude, James Mill, Rammohun Roy, T. B. Macaulay, E. A. Freeman, W. E. Gladstone, and J. R. Seeley among others, Theodore Koditschek sheds light on the role of the historical imagination in the establishment and legitimation of liberal imperialism. He shows how both imperialists and the imperialized were drawn to reflect back on the Empire's past as a result of the need to construct a modern, multi-national British imperial identity for a more economically expansive and enlightened present. By tracing the imperial lives and historical works of these pivotal figures, Theodore Koditschek illuminates the ways in which discourse altered practice, and vice versa, as well as how the history of Empire was continuously written and re-written.

The Lion's Share

The Lion's Share PDF Author: Bernard Porter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000176606
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 427

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Book Description
Updated to incorporate a substantial new epilogue considering Brexit and its ‘imperial’ implications, the sixth edition of The Lion’s Share remains an essential introduction to British imperialism from its Victorian heyday to the present. Well-known for its vigorous and readable style, this book presents a broad narrative of events and explores a number of general themes, challenging more conventional and popular interpretations of British imperialism, as well as the simplistic ‘for’ and ‘against’ arguments put forward in today’s ‘history wars’. Bernard Porter sees imperialism as a symptom not of Britain's strength in the world, but of her decline, and he argues that the empire itself both aggravated and obscured deep-seated malaise in the British economy. This sixth edition includes a final epilogue that engages with what Brexit means for British Imperial History, and whether it represents an extension of or final conclusion to Britain’s Imperial Career. In so doing, the book offers readers a thorough understanding of the history of British imperialism and its heritage, extending right into the present day. Supported by maps, images and an updated chronology, The Lion’s Share is the perfect resource for both students and those interested in British and Imperial History from the Victorian era to the modern day.