History

The course offers a unique and scholarly history of the complexity of the British Empire through its origins, rise, fall, and legacy. Its primary focus is on understanding the experience of and the reasons for these processes including controversies and catastrophes. It includes histories of black women and men in Britain and the experience of what it was like being from the Empire and living in Britain.  Many of the case studies are Africa focused. Within the context of Britain's wider political, social, and cultural history, the course examines from the late 1700s the following: the origins of the second empire; explorers; liberalism and racism; the expansion of colonies of white settlement; the role of missionaries; the scramble for Africa; the Victorians and popular imperialism; the contribution of empire to the First and Second World Wars; fast exit strategies; violent decolonization; race and  immigration; post-colonial dictators and the legacy of white settlers. Case studies include Britain and Zimbabwe; Idi Amin and Uganda;  the Mau Mau insurgency in Kenya; plus British rule in Somaliland and the fallout of the Somali civil war. The thread of racism, the imperialism of industrial capitalism, and the role of key individuals are recurring themes.