The Selling of the Empire

This innovative volume explores the essential similarity of imperialist ideologies in Britain and France from 1890 to 1940. These nations attempted to sell the concept of empire to their respective peoples as a means of overcoming pressing internal problems. The author documents the development of imperialist ideology in both countries, analyzes its methods of propagation, and assesses its popular appeal. Beginning with the 1890s, when factions in both countries espoused a remarkably similar vision of empire, August traces the numerous manifestations of official ideology through the First World War and into the ensuing period of promised recovery and national regeneration.