Nicholas Canny is Professor of History at University College, Galway.

The writing is throughout lucid and unpretentious, the judgements sensible and stimulating and the scholarship fully abreast of recent developments ... a timely and accomplished volume.

• 1. The Origins of Empire: An Introduction ; 2. The Struggle for Legitimacy and the Image of Empire in the Atlantic to c.1700 ; 3. War, Politics, and Colonization 1558-1625 ; 4. Guns and Sails in the First Phase of English Colonization 1500-1650 ; 5. 'Civilizing of those Rude Partes': Colonization within Britain and Ireland 1580s-1640s ; 6. England's New Word and the Old 1480s-1630s ; 7. Tobacco Colonies: The Shaping of English Society in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake ; 8. New England in the Seventeenth Century ; 9. The Hub of Empire: The Caribbean and Britain in the Seventeenth Century ; 10. The English in Western Africa to 1700 ; 11. The English in Asia to 1700 ; 12. Literature and Empire ; 13. The English Government, War, Trade, and Settlement 1625-1688 ; 14. New Opportunities for British Settlement: Ireland 1650-1700 ; 15. Native Americans and Europeans in English America 1500-1700 ; 16. The Middle Colonies: New Opportunities for Settlement 1660-1700 ; 17. 'Shaftesbury's Darling': British Settlement in the Carolinas at the Close of the Seventeenth Century ; 18. Overseas Expansion and Trade in the Seventeenth Century ; 19. The Emerging Emprire: The Continental Perspective 1650-1715 ; 20. The Glorious Revolution and America ; 21. Navy, State, Trade, and Empire

Nicholas Canny is Professor of History at University College, Galway.

The writing is throughout lucid and unpretentious, the judgements sensible and stimulating and the scholarship fully abreast of recent developments ... a timely and accomplished volume.

• 1. The Origins of Empire: An Introduction ; 2. The Struggle for Legitimacy and the Image of Empire in the Atlantic to c.1700 ; 3. War, Politics, and Colonization 1558-1625 ; 4. Guns and Sails in the First Phase of English Colonization 1500-1650 ; 5. 'Civilizing of those Rude Partes': Colonization within Britain and Ireland 1580s-1640s ; 6. England's New Word and the Old 1480s-1630s ; 7. Tobacco Colonies: The Shaping of English Society in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake ; 8. New England in the Seventeenth Century ; 9. The Hub of Empire: The Caribbean and Britain in the Seventeenth Century ; 10. The English in Western Africa to 1700 ; 11. The English in Asia to 1700 ; 12. Literature and Empire ; 13. The English Government, War, Trade, and Settlement 1625-1688 ; 14. New Opportunities for British Settlement: Ireland 1650-1700 ; 15. Native Americans and Europeans in English America 1500-1700 ; 16. The Middle Colonies: New Opportunities for Settlement 1660-1700 ; 17. 'Shaftesbury's Darling': British Settlement in the Carolinas at the Close of the Seventeenth Century ; 18. Overseas Expansion and Trade in the Seventeenth Century ; 19. The Emerging Emprire: The Continental Perspective 1650-1715 ; 20. The Glorious Revolution and America ; 21. Navy, State, Trade, and Empire

Nicholas Canny is Professor of History at University College, Galway.

The writing is throughout lucid and unpretentious, the judgements sensible and stimulating and the scholarship fully abreast of recent developments ... a timely and accomplished volume.

• 1. The Origins of Empire: An Introduction ; 2. The Struggle for Legitimacy and the Image of Empire in the Atlantic to c.1700 ; 3. War, Politics, and Colonization 1558-1625 ; 4. Guns and Sails in the First Phase of English Colonization 1500-1650 ; 5. 'Civilizing of those Rude Partes': Colonization within Britain and Ireland 1580s-1640s ; 6. England's New Word and the Old 1480s-1630s ; 7. Tobacco Colonies: The Shaping of English Society in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake ; 8. New England in the Seventeenth Century ; 9. The Hub of Empire: The Caribbean and Britain in the Seventeenth Century ; 10. The English in Western Africa to 1700 ; 11. The English in Asia to 1700 ; 12. Literature and Empire ; 13. The English Government, War, Trade, and Settlement 1625-1688 ; 14. New Opportunities for British Settlement: Ireland 1650-1700 ; 15. Native Americans and Europeans in English America 1500-1700 ; 16. The Middle Colonies: New Opportunities for Settlement 1660-1700 ; 17. 'Shaftesbury's Darling': British Settlement in the Carolinas at the Close of the Seventeenth Century ; 18. Overseas Expansion and Trade in the Seventeenth Century ; 19. The Emerging Emprire: The Continental Perspective 1650-1715 ; 20. The Glorious Revolution and America ; 21. Navy, State, Trade, and Empire