Gary B. Magee is Professor of Economics and Head of the School of Economics and Finance at La Trobe University. His books include Productivity and Performance in the Paper Industry: Labour, Capital and Technology in Britain and America (1997) and Knowledge Generation, Technological Change and Economic Growth in Colonial Australia (2000). Andrew S. Thompson is Professor of Commonwealth and Imperial History at the School of History, University of Leeds. His previous publications include The Empire Strikes Back. The Impact of Imperialism on Britain from the Mid-Nineteenth Century (2005) and The Impact of the South African War, 1899–1902 (co-edited with D. Omissi, 2002).

'This is a brilliant and highly original study of what the authors describe as 'imperial globalisation'. Drawing upon a huge range of literature, Thompson and Magee explore the social networks, business connections, migrational habits and shared material culture that bound together British communities at home and overseas in the long nineteenth century. In this pathbreaking book, they bring new conceptual rigour as well as empirical depth to the emerging history of the 'British World'. An outstanding achievement.' John Darwin, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

• Introduction; 1. Reconfiguring empire: the British world; 2. Networks and the British world; 3. Overseas migration; 4. Markets and consumer cultures; 5. Information and investment; Conclusion.

Gary B. Magee is Professor of Economics and Head of the School of Economics and Finance at La Trobe University. His books include Productivity and Performance in the Paper Industry: Labour, Capital and Technology in Britain and America (1997) and Knowledge Generation, Technological Change and Economic Growth in Colonial Australia (2000). Andrew S. Thompson is Professor of Commonwealth and Imperial History at the School of History, University of Leeds. His previous publications include The Empire Strikes Back. The Impact of Imperialism on Britain from the Mid-Nineteenth Century (2005) and The Impact of the South African War, 1899–1902 (co-edited with D. Omissi, 2002).

'This is a brilliant and highly original study of what the authors describe as 'imperial globalisation'. Drawing upon a huge range of literature, Thompson and Magee explore the social networks, business connections, migrational habits and shared material culture that bound together British communities at home and overseas in the long nineteenth century. In this pathbreaking book, they bring new conceptual rigour as well as empirical depth to the emerging history of the 'British World'. An outstanding achievement.' John Darwin, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

• Introduction; 1. Reconfiguring empire: the British world; 2. Networks and the British world; 3. Overseas migration; 4. Markets and consumer cultures; 5. Information and investment; Conclusion.