Find out how Britain came to rule around 458 million people around the world and what life was like for the people of these colonies? Discover the key explorers that played a role in the building of the empire, John Cabot, Sir Walter Raleigh and Captain James Cook. And find out about how the British Empire became the Commonwealth of Nations in 1949 and the on-going tensions that resulted in the Falklands War.

Each book in this series covers a particular empire or regional series of empires, charting its history from its rise to its eventual fall. Concise text and supporting boxes explore the reasons for the empire's success and its failure and explain the mechanics of governing the empire and the experience of living under it.