The British Empire: Critical Readings brings together the essential writings to have been published to date on the history of Britain's Empire. As such, it offers scholars and students a broad comprehensive set of texts through which to understand diverse aspects of British colonial rule.

The four thematic volumes that make up this resource include key material drawn from journal articles and book chapters and include a substantial introductory essay to contextualise the collections. Each volume includes both recent scholarship and influential older scholarship central to understanding debates that continue to animate the field.

The volumes are arranged thematically by People, Places, Principles and Policies and Priorities, and range over the entirety of the colonial period, with a focus on c. 1750 to c.1960 when British imperial power was at its height. The set will be organised to demonstrate the very different approaches that have informed this vibrant field, allowing for as much emphasis on cultural as on political history, on non-elites as well as leaders and on collaboration with, as well as resistance to, the imposition of colonial rule.

This will be an essential addition to libraries and a major scholarly resource for those working on imperialism and colonialism, on British history and on world history.

Philippa Levine is Professor of History, Mary Helen Thompson Centennial Professor in the Humanities and Co-Director of the Program in British Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. She is the author or editor of many books on Britain's empire, including Gender, Labour, War and Empire in Modern Britain (2009) and The British Empire: Sunrise to Sunset (2007).