Présentation de l'éditeur
Ruling the World tells the story of how the largest and most diverse empire in history was governed, everywhere and all at once. Focusing on some of the most tumultuous years of Queen Victoria's reign, Alan Lester, Kate Boehme and Peter Mitchell adopt an entirely new perspective to explain how the men in charge of the British Empire sought to manage simultaneous events across the globe. Using case studies including Canada, South Africa, the Caribbean, Australia, India and Afghanistan, they reveal how the empire represented a complex series of trade-offs between Parliament's, colonial governors', colonists' and colonised peoples' agendas. They also highlight the compromises that these men made as they adapted their ideals of freedom, civilization and liberalism to the realities of an empire imposed through violence and governed in the interests of Britons.
Sommaire
Introduction
Part I. 1838: The Year of Freedom
1. Setting the scene for emancipation
2. Managing expectations
3. Political freedom
4. Settler liberties
5. Free trade, famine and invasion
6. Steam and opium
Conclusion to Part I: An empire of freedom?
Part II. 1857: The Year of Civilization
7. Setting the scene: Hubris and crisis
8. 'A struggle of life and death'
9. A new imperial government
Conclusion to Part II: An empire of civilization?
Part III. 1879: The Year of Liberalism
10. Liberal fathers and sons
11. Imperialism
12. Imperial wars and their aftermaths
Conclusion to Part III: A liberal empire?
