After the American Revolution, the British Empire appeared to be doomed. Yet it grew to become the greatest, most diverse empire the world had seen. Then, within a generation, the mighty structure collapsed, a rapid demise that left an array of dependencies and a contested legacy: at best a sporting spirit, a legal code and a near-universal language; at worst, failed states and internecine strife.
Chapter 1. The World Turned Upside Down - The American Revolution and the Slave Trade
Chapter 2. An English Barrack in the Oriental Seas - Britannia’s Indian Empire
Chapter 3. Exempt from the Disaster of Caste - Australia, Canada and New Zealand
Chapter 4. To Stop Is Dangerous, to Recede, Ruin - The Far East and Afghanistan
Chapter 5. Sacred Wrath - Irish Famine and Indian Mutiny
Chapter 6. Spread the Peaceful Gospel—with the Maxim Gun - Towards Conquest in Africa
Chapter 7. A Magnificent Empire Under the British Flag - Cape to Cairo
Chapter 8. Barbarians Thundering at the Frontiers - The Boer War and the Indian Raj
Chapter 9. The Empire, Right or Wrong - Flanders, Iraq, Gallipoli and Vimy Ridge
Chapter 10. Aflame with the Hope of Liberation - Ireland and the Middle East
Chapter 11. Englishmen Like Posing as Gods - West and East
Chapter 12. White Mates Black in a Very Few Moves - Kenya and the Sudan
Chapter 13. Spinning the Destiny of India - The Route to Independence
Chapter 14. That Is the End of the British Empire - Singapore and Burma
Chapter 15. The Aim of Labour Is to Save the Empire - Ceylon and Malaya
Chapter 16. A Golden Bowl Full of Scorpions - The Holy Land
Chapter 17. The Destruction of National Will - Suez Invasion and Aden Evacuation
Chapter 18. Renascent Africa - The Gold Coast and Nigeria
Chapter 19. Uhuru—Freedom - Kenya and the Mau Mau
Chapter 20. Kith and Kin - Rhodesia and the Central African Federation
Chapter 21. Rocks and Islands - The West Indies and Cyprus
Chapter 22. All Our Pomp of Yesterday - The Falklands and Hong Kong