The Oxford History of the British Empire
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Description
Volume I of the Oxford History of the British Empire explores the origins of empire. It shows how and why England, and later Britain, became involved with transoceanic navigation, trade, and settlement during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The chapters, by leading historians, both illustrate the interconnections between developments in Europe and overseas and offer specialist studies on every part of the world that was substantially affected by British colonial activity. As late as 1630, involvement with regions beyond the traditional confines of Europe was still tentative; by 1690 it had become a firm commitment.About the Series:
The Oxford History of the British Empire is a major new assessment of the Empire in the light of recent scholarship and the progressive opening of historical records. It deals with the interaction of British and non-western societies from the Elizabethan era to the late twentieth century, provides a balanced treatment of the ruled as well as the rulers, and takes into account the significance of the Empire for the peoples of the British Isles. All five of the volumes in this series fully explore economic and social as well as political trends.
Reviews
"It must be said immediately that its first two volumes get The Oxford History of the British Empire off to a strong start. Both books consist of essays that break new ground and do so with a confidence based on extensive research and with refreshing lucidity and frankness...These two books are likely to shock some of their readers. For example, the sentimentalized and idealized version of American history, which luxuriates in popular works and is more subtly present in much academic history, finds no favor with the contributors to these volumes." -Conor Cruise O'Brien in The New York Review of Books
"The first two volumes of this five-volume history of the British Empire establish a very high standard of scholarship....Recommended for all libraries."--Library Journal
"[Oxford History of the British Empire] provide[s] a huge, richly endowed quarry within which readers can delve with great profit and enjoyment."--The Independent
"Magisterial design and craftmanship in the detail"--Daily Telegraph (London)
"Magnificent...Taken together, these books constitute an extraordinary feat of organization and scholarship, and they provide the authoritative history of the British Empire for our generation, and the essential starting point of the re-writing of that history which will take place in the next generation. Opinions differ about the British Empire; there can be no disagreement about this superb history of it." --David Cannadine in The Times Literary Supplement
