At its peak in the early 20th century, Britain's empire was the largest in the history of the world, greater even than that of ancient Rome. It embraced more th... » 

At its peak in the early 20th century, Britain's empire was the largest in the history of the world, greater even than that of ancient Rome. It embraced more than a fourth of the world's population and affected the course of Western civilization in ways almost too numerous to imagine.

Even today, with the advantages of historical perspective and hindsight, it is still nearly impossible to overstate the scope and importance of its stunning legacy. Yet only seven decades after achieving its unprecedented global reach, the British Empire had virtually disappeared, swept aside by historical forces as powerful as those that had first propelled it into being.

How and why did this happen? What were those forces that thrust the British Empire to its extraordinary position and then just as powerfully drove it into decline? And why are the lives of not only Americans but also of the citizens of nearly every nation on earth, in one way or another, the consequence of the British Empire?

In the 36 lectures of The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, award-winning Professor Patrick N. Allitt of Emory University leads you through four centuries of British power, innovation, influence, and, ultimately, diminishment-four profound centuries that literally remade the world and bequeathed the complex global legacy that continues to shape your everyday life.

CH1. The Sun Never SetCH2. The Challenge to Spain in the New WorldCH3. African Slavery and the West IndiesCH4. Imperial Beginnings in IndiaCH5. Clive and the Conquest of IndiaCH6. Wolfe and the Conquest of CanadaCH7. The Loss of the American ColoniesCH8. Exploring the PlanetCH9. Napoleon Challenges the EmpireCH10. The Other Side of the WorldCH11. Abolition of the Slave Trade and SlaveryCH12. Early African ColoniesCH13. China and the Opium WarsCH14. Britain-The Imperial CenterCH15. Ireland-The Tragic RelationshipCH16. India and the "Great Game"CH17. Rebellion and Mutiny in IndiaCH18. How Canada Became a NationCH19. The Exploration and Settlement of AfricaCH20. Gold, Greed, and Geopolitics in AfricaCH21. The Empire in LiteratureCH22. Economics and Theories of EmpireCH23. The British Empire Fights Imperial GermanyCH24. Versailles and DisillusionmentCH25. Ireland DividedCH26. Cricket and the British EmpireCH27. British India between the World WarsCH28. World War II-England AloneCH29. World War II-The Pyrrhic VictoryCH30. Twilight of the RajCH31. Israel, Egypt, and the Suez CanalCH32. The Decolonization of AfricaCH33. The White DominionsCH34. Britain after the EmpireCH35. Colonial and Postcolonial LiteratureCH36. Epitaph and Legacy «