Abstract
The second circle of England is Greater Britain, and in particular the British Empire, the vast overseas territories which were acquired over the course of three centuries and then surrendered within the space of three decades. This is the circle which appears least visible today, but whose legacies still throw a long shadow across British politics. It is the weakening of Empire that has undermined the Union as well as throwing into stark relief the choice between Europe and America for the future of British politics.
Under a condition of universal free trade, the dream of the sixties of the last century, industrial life and empire might be dissociated, but when competing countries seek to monopolise markets by means of customs tariffs, even democracies are compelled to annex empires. In the last two generations... the object of vast British annexations has been to support a trade open to all the world.
Halford Mackinder, 19021
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes and References
Halford Mackinder, Britain and the British Seas ( London: Heinemann, 1902 ), p. 343.
Hugh Kearney, ‘Four Nations or One?’, in B. Crick (ed.), National Identities ( Oxford: Blackwell, 1991 ), p. 2.
P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins, British Imperialism: Innovation and Expansion 1688–1914 ( London: Longman, 1993 ).
John Darwin, Britain and Decolonisation: The Retreat from Empire in the Post-War World ( London: Macmillan, 1988 );
P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins, British Imperialism: Crisis and Deconstruction 1914–1990 ( London: Longman, 1993 ).
Eric Hobsbawm, Industry and Empire ( London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1968 ).
Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440–1870 ( New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997 );
Robin Blackburn, The Making of New World Slavery: From the Baroque to the Modern 1492–1800 ( London: Verso, 1997 ).
A.P. Thornton, The Imperial Idea and its Enemies: a study in British power ( London: Macmillan, 1985 ).
J.A. Hobson, Imperialism (London: Unwin Hyman, 1902; Third Edition, 1988) p. 114.
Zig Layton-Henry, The Politics of Race in Britain ( London: Allen & Unwin, 1984 );
John Solomos, Race and Racism in Britain ( London: Palgrave, 2003 ).
Colin Holmes, John Bull’s Other Island: Immigration and British Society 1871–1971 ( London: Macmillan, 1988 ).
Linda Colley, Britons: Forging the Nation 1707–1837 ( New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992 ).
Arthur Marwick, British Society since 1945 ( London: Penguin, 1990 ).
Paul Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics ( Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1965 ).
Simon Heffer, Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell ( London: Weidenfeld, 1998 );
T.E. Utley, Enoch Powell: The Man and his Thinking ( London: Kimber, 1968 );
Douglas Schoen, Enoch Powell and the Powellites ( London: Macmillan, 1977 ).
Enoch Powell, Freedom and Reality ( Kingswood: Elliot Right Way Books, 1969 ), p. 283.
Brian Barry, Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism ( Cambridge: Polity, 2000 );
Bhikhu Parekh, The Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain ( London: Profile Books, 2000 ).
John Seeley, The Expansion of England ( London: Macmillan, 1902 ).
Norman Davies, The Isles: A History ( London: Macmillan, 1999 ).
Hugh Kearney, The British Isles: A History of Four Nations ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989 ).
Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery ( London: Fontana, 1991 ).
W.L. Guttsman, The British Political Elite ( London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1965 ).
Bernard Semmel, Imperialism and Social Reform ( London: Allen & Unwin, 1960 );
G.R. Searle, The Quest for National Efficiency: A Study in British Politics and Political Thought 1889–1914 ( Oxford: Blackwell, 1971 ).
Geoff Mulgan, Politics in an Anti-Political Age ( Cambridge: Polity, 1994 ).
Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 ( London: Fontana, 1989 ).
Robert Blake, The Decline of Power 1915–1964 ( London: Granada, 1985 ).
Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War ( London: Penguin, 1999 ).
Blake, The Decline of Power; Max Beloff, Imperial Sunset: Vol 2 Dream of Commonwealth 1921–1942 ( London: Macmillan, 1989 );
Correlli Barnett, The Collapse of British Power ( London: Eyre Methuen, 1972 ).
Winston Churchill, The Second World War: Volume 2 Their Finest Hour ( London: Cassell, 1949 );
Clive Ponting, 1940: Myth and Reality ( London: Hamilton, 1990 ).
Robert McKenzie and Allan Silver, Angels in Marble: Working Class Conservatives in Urban England ( London: Heinemann, 1968 ).
J.A. Hobson, Imperialism ( London: Unwin Hyman, 1902 );
Richard Cobden, The Political Writings of Richard Cobden (London: Ridgway, 2 vols, 1867).
Leo Amery, My Political Life, Vols 1–3 (London: Hutchinson, 1953–5).
W.H. Mallock, A Critical Examination of Socialism ( London: John Murray, 1908 ).
Jim Bulpitt, Territory and Power in the United Kingdom ( Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1983 ).
Philip Corrigan and Derek Sayer, The Great Arch ( Oxford: Blackwell, 1985 );
Stuart Hall and Bill Schwarz, ‘State and Society, 1880–1930’, in M. Langan and B. Schwarz (eds), Crises in the British State ( London: Hutchinson, 1985 ).
David Edgerton, England and the Aeroplane: An Essay on a Militant and Technological Nation ( London: Macmillan, 1991 ).
Correlli Barnett, The Collapse of British Power; Correlli Barnett, Britain and her army 1500–1970 ( London: Allen Lane, 1970 ).
Frank Prochaska, Royal Bounty: The Making of a Welfare Monarchy ( New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995 ).
Stephen Blank, ‘The Politics of Foreign Economic Policy’, International Organisation 31 (4), 1977, pp. 673–722.
Martin Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit 1850–1980 ( London: Penguin, 1985 ).
Correlli Barnett, The Audit of War: The Illusion and Reality of Britain as a Great Nation ( London: Macmillan, 1986 ).
Julian Amery, Joseph Chamberlain and the Tariff Reform Campaign 1903–1968 ( London: Macmillan, 1969 ).
Susan Strange, Sterling and British Policy ( London: Oxford University Press, 1971 ).
David Kynaston, The City of London: Volume 1: A World of its Own, 1815–1890 ( London: Chatto & Windus, 1994 ).
John Peterson, Europe and America: The Prospects for Partnership ( London: Routledge, 1996 );
Dick Leonard and Mark Leonard (eds), The Pro-European Reader ( London: Palgrave, 2002 );
Martin Holmes (ed.), The Eurosceptical Reader 2 ( London: Palgrave, 2002 ).
Copyright information
© 2003 Andrew Gamble
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gamble, A. (2003). The Empire Within. In: Between Europe and America. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-4045-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-4045-2_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-55571-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-4045-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)