This volume adopts a distinctive thematic approach to the history of British imperialism from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. It brings together leading scholars of British imperial history: Tony Ballantyne, John Darwin, Andrew Dilley, Elizabeth Elbourne, Kent Fedorowich, Eliga Gould, Catherine Hall, Stephen Howe, Sarah Stockwell, Andrew Thompson, Stuart Ward, and Jon Wilson. * Each contributor offers a personal assessment of the topic at hand, and examines key interpretive debates among historians * Addresses many of the core issues that constitute a broad understanding of the British Empire, including the economics of the empire, the empire and religion, and imperial identities