The British Empire

Imperial spectacle: inside Britain's 1924 'Empire Exhibition'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

InterviewCharlotte Lydia Riley: “We need to get rid of the idea that Britain was humanitarian in its imperialism. That needs to go”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 1924 British Empire Exhibition showcased industry close to home, as well as in the far-flung reaches of the empire. Here, Belfast ropeworkers show off the fruits of their labour. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

The British empire’s last hurrah? Why an epic celebration of imperialism in 1924 failed to mask a superpower in decline. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

King George V crosses a river in Nepal, 1912. “Historians have moved the discussion on empire in all sorts of directions over many years,” says Bronwen Everill. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

The challenge of writing histories of the British empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Michael Wood on crafting a national narrative“We need a meaningful story for the new generation – our composite union”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Chinese workers tend a tea plantation in a mid-19th-century lithograph. Importing leaves from China was expensive – until Scottish botanist Robert Fortune introduced the plants to India. (Photo by Getty Images)

Eastern promises: the long and troubled history of Britain's relations with China. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastThe British empire's divisive legacy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British author Sathnam Sanghera poses for a photograph in Hampstead

Sathnam Sanghera on the legacy of empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The British empire's divisive legacy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastIreland's tangled relationship with empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An Indian soldier keeps watch in a British trench, c1916

The British empire in 1923: the story of the imperial project's territorial height

One day in the British empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Battling the British empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrayal of the Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light BrigadeWho blundered in the Valley of Death?

Captives being brought on board a slave ship on the West Coast of Africa (Slave Coast), c1880. Although Britain outlawed slavery in 1833 and it was abolished in the USA after the defeat of the Confederacy in the Civil War in 1865, the transatlantic trade in African slaves continued. The main market for the slaves was Brazil, where slavery was not abolished until 1888. (Colorised black and white print). Artist Unknown.. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

General History

Black British historySlavery's painful legacy

General History

Empire: the big historical questions. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Clash of cultures: how interpreters bridged the gap between Britain and China. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Kavita Puri"Many south Asian diasporic families don’t know of their First World War links". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Has Britain always looked backwards?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Empire of blood. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A legacy of inequality: the economic impact of empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British author Sathnam Sanghera

Sathnam SangheraBritain's Imperial Legacy: “It was painful to realise how my education had colonised me”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A photograph of the England team that faced Australia at the Oval in the 1896 Ashes series

Batting for the British Empire: how Victorian cricket was more than just a game. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration representing various empires across history

General ancient history

Have empires ever been a force for good?

Students study mathematics in Lahore in 1933

Revising the Raj. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The slave trade: a family history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Samir PuriHow Empires Shaped the World. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Opulent headquarters East India House in London, 1850. From inside this grand building, the East India Company directors oversaw the governance of India and its associated territories (Photo by Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

1838: A year in the life of the British empire

An engraving of the thin Red Line, depicting the 93rd Regiment at the battle of Balaklava

Q&AWhat was the Thin Red Line?

Sathnam Sanghera discusses where we can see the legacy of imperialism in Britain today

Sathnam Sanghera on how modern Britain is shaped by empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.