Empire and History Writing in Britain c.1750-2012

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This book offers both a narrative and an analysis of the influence of British imperialism on history writing since 1750. It takes a distinctive approach to this topic by exploring 'imperial' elements within history writing in general, as well as writing on the history of empire itself, suggesting that the effects of empire on the production of historical texts should be understood as a pervasive rather than a narrowly focussed influence. It sets history writing in the context of changing imperial involvements, and of the changing settings and readerships in which it was produced. The discussion has a chronological framework which establishes a narrative across time, and traces the development of practices which passed from one generation of history writers to another. Each chronological section of the book also has an analytical structure based on the examination of three themes, which are identified in the introductory chapter as key links between imperial experience and some of the prevalent concerns of history writing. Firstly, imperial involvements impacted on understandings of state power and governance, secondly, imperial and global expansion transformed views of 'civilisation' and 'progress', thirdly, that expansion contributed to the development of ideas of 'nation' and 'race'. The book thus offers students and scholars both an account of the genealogy of history writing in Britain, and an analysis of structural connections between histories of empire and that of history writing, based on consideration of a range of canonical, popular and educational history texts.