Essays on cultural and artistic exchange in the age of imperialism as European powers vied for domination of the oceanic routes between Asia and the Americas. Illustrated.
Islands of banishment approached through three lives: New Caledonia in the South Pacific, where Louise Michel, grandmother of French anarchy and a leader in theParis Commune, was sent for s... read more
The author's ancestors made their fortunes through slaves and sugar. The fortune was lost but the letters were preserved: this is a powerful investigation of an Imperial past which is widely... read more
Explores the world and campaigns of the late-medieval imperialists, the Christian adventurers whose mind-sets are as remote to us today as were those of the Aztecs and Incas to them.
A teacher of photography on a New England campus remembers his West African childhood: Cole may be writing about himself here. The novel is a subtle, quiet exploration of memory, the passage... read more
Demonstrates how constitutions evolved in tandem with warfare, and how they have functioned to advance empire as well as promote nations, and worked to exclude as well as liberate. LC is a b... read more
The 60 years following the Portuguese arrival in the Moluccas in 1511 saw an epic global struggle for the sources and distribution of this new geyser of wealth. Told with verve and authority... read more
A first edition, first impression of William Dalrymple's evocative and riveting portrayal of the last days of the Mughal empire and of Zafar, its last emperor. The book is in fine condition ... read more
A fascinating exploration of travel in C17th India: merchant-cum-gentleman Thomas Roe is whisked away as ambassador to Mughal India where he plays the dangerous (and often disappointing) gam... read more
An unflinching look at Britain's past, showing how the empire was built - and depended on - institutionalised, racialised violence. The Pulitzer-winner argues that the empire only waned when... read more
Somerset Maugham appears as one of two narrators in this atmospheric novel of love, truth, secrecy and betrayal in 1920s' colonial Penang. Eng's airy storytelling is a rare gift: he gives hi... read more
From the perspective of the people who have worked and lived there since 1862, when it was a fishing village, rather than of the imperial powers who controlled it.
Unlike Dalrymple's The Anarchy, this deals just with the East India Company's early years. Howarth argues that it was more European than English in spirit.
An ambitious book that traces the collapse of empires and their ramifications in contemporary Eurasian geopolitics - in particular Iran, China, Turkey and Russia.
This is a fascinating illustrated book on the often elaborate and arresting labels used by British textile manufacturers when exporting to India during the Raj.
From Buddhist, Jain and Hindu temples through to Islamic and European centres of worship and commerce, this two volume set covers two-thousand years of Indian architectural history.
Vol. 1... read more
An anthology of the writings by the often overlooked women of the Raj, many of whom flourished in India - Fanny Parks, Emily Eden et alia. A fascinating counterpoint to the stereotypical vie... read more
A many-layered memoir from the Pulitzer-winning author of The Sympathizer: the American dream, the Vietnam War, the life of the refugee, adoption, violence, identity.
He ruled an area of the Indian subcontinent greater than anyone until the British 2000 years later; famously he renounced war for Buddhism and promoted religious toleration throughout his mu... read more
The British empire observed through the lens of a single day: the 29th September 1923, when the Mandate for Palestine became law and the British empire reached its maximum extent, just as i... read more
This complex man exposed horrors in the Congo and Amazon, winning renown and a knighthood. But his support for Irish Independence led to his execution for high treason.
Accompanies an exhibition at the RA about competing representations of empire, featuring fifty artists from Turner and Reynolds to Frank Bowling, Lubaina Himid and Kara Walker.
Born in Kenya, the author was two when the Mau Mau uprising began. A powerful memoir of this very difficult period and the end of empire in Kenya.The author worked for many years for the BBC... read more
After the Armistice in 1918, the Allies' support for anyone contra-German mutated into anti-Bolshevik Intervention. Forces were deployed in Archangel, the Caucasus, the Far East and elsewher... read more
The Chagos Archipelago was appropriated from Mauritius by Britain in the 1960s and its inhabitants deported (with one suitcase each) to Mauritius and the UK in 1967-1973 to make way for the ... read more