Britain's Imperial Histories

Military historian Jeremy Black continues his review of the global context of martial conflict and spatial conquest into the modern era (16th-20th centuries), focusing on the British empire and its lasting effect on this landscape. Black offers a representation of the imperial experience that is eye-opening for a generation of readers who associate this with a strictly negative connotation. But the notion of an empire is not understood at all if this is true. Indeed, not only is there no one type of empire, no prototype, the basis of empire is much more 'order' than it is 'invasion.' Furthermore, reflecting on the unavoidable cultural and sociological symbiosis and transfer, Black makes the case that in all instances of influence and encounter, sameness between peoples never results. But how does one distinguish influence from control? What are the long-term benefits among peoples? To many today, empire might seem obvious: governors with ostrich-feathers in their colonial garb...

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