Originally published in 2002.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [323]-325) and index.

"The British Empire was the biggest empire in all history. At its peak it governed a quarter of the world's land and people and dominated all its seas." "Though little now remains of the Empire as a political power, its legacy is all around us. It laid the foundation for the global triumph of capitalism. It gave the world its common language, English. It exported both Protestantism and parliaments. And it defeated a succession of rival empires from the Habsburgs' to Hitler's." "Empire shows how the British wrested power from their rivals by a combination of imitation and intimidation. It shows how mass migration from Britain turned the American and Australian continents white - and how the missionary movement sought to enlighten the 'dark' continents of Africa and Asia. Above all, Empire explains how the British Empire rose - and why it finally fell. Ferguson's answers are controversial but compelling."--BOOK JACKET.