The absent-minded imperialists : empire, society, and culture in Britain / Bernard Porter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Porter, Bernard.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public opinion--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Public opinion.

Colonies.

History.

Imperialism--Public opinion.

Imperialism.

Great Britain.

Imperialism--Public opinion--History--19th century.

Imperialism--Public opinion--History--20th century.

Great Britain--Colonies--Public opinion--History--20th century.

Great Britain--Colonies--Public opinion--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

xxii, 475 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004.

Summary:

The British empire was a huge enterprise. To foreigners it more or less defined Britain in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its repercussions in the wider world are still with us today. One might expect this to have been reflected in her society and culture. This is the first book to examine this assumption critically against the broader background of contemporary British society. Bernard Porter, a leading imperial historian, argues that the empire had a far lower profile in Britain than it did abroad. He argues that though Britain was an imperial nation in this period, she was never a genuine imperial society.

Contents:

Empire and society

Participation

The prefects

The middle classes at school

Trade, liberty, and empire : the middle classes to 1880

Not in front of the servants

Culture and imperialism

Peril and propaganda, c. 1900

What about the workers?

Imperialists, other imperialists, and others

Empire on condition, 1914-1940

Repercussions

Recapitulation and conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [430]-460) and index.

ISBN:

0198208545

OCLC:

56334149