A CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

418pp., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., New Haven, 2022

John M. MacKenzie on the importance of culture in British imperialism, and how colonised peoples integrated their own cultures with British imports, subverting expectations and increasingly undermining the empire itself.

“MacKenzie has mobilised his formidable knowledge of the many dimensions of an imperial culture rooted in racial hierarchies and designed to secure white power - from ceremonials and sports to the arts and the press - to tell a dynamic story of how colonised and indigenous peoples challenged and disrupted these practices, reconfiguring them to new purposes for new times.” Catherine Hall, author of Macaulay and Son

“MacKenzie’s deep scholarship, honed over a lifetime of pioneering work, is on dazzling show in this lively survey of imperial culture and cultural imperialism. His timely reminder that protest against commemorative statuary is far from new is just one of the important insights sprinkled throughout this important work.” Philippa Levine, author of The British Empire

John M. MacKenzie is Professor Emeritus of Imperial History at Lancaster University. His books include Museums and Empire and The British Empire Through Buildings.