Empires

Empires have returned to our world. Russia’s war against Ukraine, and China’s new power politics, are reminiscent of the imperial expansionism of great powers between the end of the 18^th century and the First World War. But what do we mean when we talk about empires? This book tells their story in a new way, by looking at encounters between people under colonial conditions. It focuses on the key challenge faced by empires: how to handle ethnic diversity. It questions the logic of imperial actions and explains how colonised people dealt with conquest, control, integration and exploitation, exposing courses of action and dynamics of violence which are not revealed in simple contrasts between rulers and ruled. The result is a contemporary history of empires in the world of the long 19^th century.

‘Russia’s war against Ukraine, and China’s new power politics, are reminiscent of the imperial expansionism of great powers between the end of the 18^th century and the First World War.’

*Empires: how they worked, what they achieved and where they failed

-         The British Empire

-         The Habsburg Empire

-         The Ottoman Empire

-         The French colonial empire

-         And references to other empires

*A comparative global history

*The experiences of the colonised and their spheres of action

*Empires have returned to our world