Writing Imperial Histories

Andrew S. Thompson is Professor of Modern History, University of Exeter

A fitting tribute to Professor MacKenzie’s enormous contribution to modern imperial history. In the spirit of MacKenzie’s expansive vision, this collection works both as a summation of his career and also as a stimulus to further research.'Saul Dubow, Professor of History, Sussex UniversityCoincident attention to genealogy and innovative potential is the hallmark of this collection.Leonardi and Ward, among others, connect recent cutting-edge scholarshipwith its still-active ancestor: John M. MacKenzie, the founding editor of the Studies inImperialism. The theme reappears subtly in Robert Aldrich’s study of gender in empire,as he demonstrates that the series carved out a space for sexuality to be taken seriouslyas a point of historical investigation, and, more pointedly, when Dane Kennedy tracesa clear path from early histories of exploration to the environmental histories now invogue in the academy. In fact, the dual vantage points make this collection much morethan a retrospective. While each of the essays elucidates the importance of past contributionsto the eld, the assembled authors also propose compelling future paths of inquiry.

• Introduction – Andrew Thompson1. The MacKenziean moment in retrospect (or how one hundred volumes bloomed) – Stuart Ward2. The power of culture and the cultures of power: John MacKenzie and the study of imperialism – Cherry Leonardi3. Sex matters: Sexuality and the writing of colonial history – Robert Aldrich4. Exploration, the environment, and empire – Dane Kennedy5. Spatial concepts and the historical geographies of British colonialism – Alan Lester6. Policing the colonial crowd: Patterns of policing in the European empires during the Depression years – Martin Thomas7. Whatever Happened to the Third British Empire?: Empire, nation redux – Mrinalini Sinha8. Media, India and the Raj – Chandrika Kaul9. Empires, diasporas and cultural circulation – Sunil Amrith10. Decolonisation, space and power: Immigration, welfare and housing in Britain and France, 1945–74 – Jim House and Andrew ThompsonAfterword – John Mackenzie Index