Alan Lester – författare

Imperial Networks investigates the discourses and practices of British colonialism. It reveals how British colonialism in the Eastern Cape region was informed by, and itself informed, imperial ideas and activities elsewhere, both in Britain and in other colonies.

It examines:

* the origins and development of the three interacting discourses of colonialism - official, humanitarian and settler* the contests, compromises and interplay between these discourses and their proponents* the analysis of these discourses in the light of a global humanitarian movement in the aftermath of the antislavery campaign* the eventual colonisation of the Eastern cape and the construction of colonial settler identities.

For any student or resarcher of this major aspect of history, this will be a staple part of their reading diet.

Imperial Networks investigates the discourses and practices of British colonialism. It reveals how British colonialism in the Eastern Cape region was informed by, and itself informed, imperial ideas and activities elsewhere, both in Britain and in other colonies.

It examines:

* the origins and development of the three interacting discourses of colonialism - official, humanitarian and settler* the contests, compromises and interplay between these discourses and their proponents* the analysis of these discourses in the light of a global humanitarian movement in the aftermath of the antislavery campaign* the eventual colonisation of the Eastern cape and the construction of colonial settler identities.

For any student or resarcher of this major aspect of history, this will be a staple part of their reading diet.

The Truth About Empire comes from expert historians who believe that the truth, as far as we can ascertain it, matters; that our decades of painstaking research make us worth listening to; and that our authority as leading professionals should count for something in today’s polarised debates over Britain’s imperial past.

Colonial history is now a battlefield in the culture war. The public’s understanding of past events is continually distorted by wilful caricatures. Communities that long struggled to get their voices heard have, in their fight to highlight the hidden horrors of colonialism, alienated many who prefer a celebratory national history. The backlash, orchestrated by elements of the media, has generated a new, concerted denial of imperial racism and violence in Britain’s past—a disinformation campaign sharing both tactics and motivations with those around Covid, Brexit and climate change.

From Australia and China to South Africa and Egypt, this essay collection is an accessible guide to the British Empire, and a weapon of defence against the assault on historical truth. The disturbing stories told in these pages, of Empire’s culture, politics and economics, show why professional research matters, when deciding what can and cannot be known about Britain’s colonial history.