<The> absent-minded imperialists empire, society, and culture in Britain

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. It also had a great impact on Britain herself: for example, on her economy, security, population, and eating habits. One might expect this to have been reflected in her society and culture. Indeed, this has now become the conventional wisdom: that Britain was steeped in imperialism domestically, which affected (or infected) almost everything Britons thought, felt, and did. 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. Many Britons could hardly have been aware of it for most of the nineteenth century and only a small number was in any way committed to it. Between these extremes opinions differed widely over what was even meant by the empire. This depended largely on class, and even when people were aware of the empire, it had no appreciable impact on their thinking about anything else. Indeed, the influence far more often went the other way, with perceptions of the empire being affected (or distorted) by more powerful domestic discourses. Although Britain was an imperial nation in this period, she was never a genuine imperial society. As well as showing how this was possible, Porter also discusses the implications of this attitude for Britain and her empire, and for the relationship between culture and imperialism more generally, bringing his study up to date by including the case of the present-day USA. "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. It also had a great impact on Britain herself: for example, on her economy, security, population, and eating habits. One might expect this to have been reflected in her society and culture. Indeed, this has now become the conventional wisdom: that Britain was steeped in imperialism domestically, which affected (or infected) almost everything Britons thought, felt, and did." "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. Many Britons could hardly have been aware of it for most of the nineteenth century and only a small number was in any way committed to it. Between these extremes opinions differed widely over what was even meant by the empire. This depended largely on class, and even when people were aware of the empire, it had no appreciable impact on their thinking about anything else. Indeed, the influence far more often went the other way, with perceptions of the empire being affected (or distorted) by more powerful domestic discourses. Although Britain was an imperial nation in this period, she was never a genuine imperial society."--Jacket Cover ......Page 1 Title Page ......Page 4 Copyright ......Page 5 Preface......Page 8 Contents......Page 20 List of Illustrations......Page 22 1 Empire and Society......Page 24 2 Participation......Page 48 3 The Prefects......Page 62 4 The Middle Classes at School......Page 87 5 Trade, Liberty, and Empire:The Middle Classes to 1880......Page 106 6 Not in Front of the Servants......Page 138 7 Culture and Imperialism......Page 157 8 Peril and Propaganda, c.1900......Page 187 9 What About the Workers?......Page 217 10 Imperialists, Other Imperialists,and Others......Page 250 11 Empire on Condition,1914–1940......Page 278 12 Repercussions......Page 306 13 Recapitulation and Conclusion......Page 329 chapter 1......Page 345 chapter 2......Page 348 chapter 3......Page 353 chapter 4......Page 365 chapter 5......Page 372 chapter 6......Page 383 chapter 7......Page 390 chapter 8......Page 403 chapter 9......Page 417 chapter 10......Page 429 chapter 11......Page 436 chapter 12......Page 447 chapter 13......Page 451 Select Bibliography......Page 453 B......Page 484 C......Page 485 E......Page 487 G......Page 488 H......Page 489 J......Page 490 M......Page 491 N......Page 492 P......Page 493 R......Page 494 S......Page 495 U......Page 496 Y......Page 497 Z......Page 498 Kipling, Elgar, Mafeking Night . . . all these conjure up an image of a British society besotted with imperial pride in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In fact the true picture was more complex than this and people reacted to their empire in different ways. Many were hardly aware of it at all. This lively book is the first study of the impact of the empire on British society and culture that looks beneath the surface to find out what people really thought, with some surprising results. - ;The British empire was a huge enterprise. To foreigners it more or less defined Britain in t 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 Endnotes. Kipling, Elgar, "Mafeking Night" conjure up an image of a British society besotted with imperial pride in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book presents a study of the impact of the empire on British society and culture that looks beneath the surface to find out what people really thought.