The foundations of power, 1815-70. The project of an empire ; British hegemony and its residual rivals ; Sea power and gunboat diplomacy ; Economic enterprise: exports, imports and free trade ; The importance of the Indian raj ; The white colonies and the problems of imperial organisation ; Britain and the American challenge
The motives and methods of expansion, 1815-65. Racial attitudes ; Anti-slavery and the humanitarian impulse ; Economic and ideological motives for expansion ; The Protestant missionary movement ; Palmerston and the grand design ; The theory and practice of global influence ; Informal empire in China
The Decline of British Pre-eminence, 1855-1900. The Indian Mutiny-Rebellion ; A decade of crisis for the grand design, 1855-65 ; The hardening of racial attitudes ; The Irish protest ; The occupation of Egypt ; The response to emergent nationalism in India and Egypt ; The growth of pessimism ; Economic retardation
The search for stability, 1880-1914. Partitioning the world ; The partition of Africa ; The myth of a 'special relationship' with the United States ; The federal panacea ; The origins of the South African War, 1899 ; Chamberlain, the West Indies and tariff reform ; Defence and diplomacy ; The contribution of the Liberal government, 1905-14 ; Schooling and scouting
The Dynamics of Empire and Expansion. Surplus energy and the proconsular phenomenon ; The engine of expansion: a model ; Props of empire-building: sex, sport and secret societies ; White skins, white masks: techniques of control ; The construction of the colonial state and the beginnings of globalisation ; Global context: the empire in comparative perspective ; 1914 and the writing on the wall.
