{"product_id":"the-idea-of-greater-britain-9780691151168","title":"The Idea of Greater Britain","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring the tumultuous closing decades of the nineteenth century, as the prospect of democracy loomed and as intensified global economic and strategic competition reshaped the political imagination, British thinkers grappled with the question of how best to organize the empire. This title analyzes this debate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCo-Winner of the 2007 Whitfield Prize \"[A] highly intelligent and persuasive book... Bell has written what seems likely to be one of the field's definitive works.\"--Eliga H. Gould, International History Review \"It is difficult to enumerate the qualities of this wonderful account of late Victorian political thought on state, Empire and much besides. Duncan Bell has given us a fresh and invigorating look at the political debate in the late 19th-century British Empire, but he has also given us plenty of food for thought about our own times. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this book is the way that it strikes contemporary notes, without ever being a-historical in its content or approach.\"--Andrew Williams, Round Table \"The Idea of Greater Britain is full of penetrating insights for those seeking to understand the nuances of Victorian notions of British Empire and how these quests relate to the future of world order.\"--Shih-Yu Chou, Political Studies Review \"In a work of great subtlety and nuance he provides a fresh perspective on an important but neglected debate. In doing so he contributes signi?cantly not only to British imperial and domestic history but also to a deeper understanding of British political thinking in the late nineteenth century. It will be difficult in the future for historians of British political thought to ignore the imperial dimension.\"--John Kendle, American Historical Review \"Bell's book, as a serious investigation of how...language was developed in the Victorian era, is a quietly powerful corrective.\"--Stephen Howe, Independent \"Bell ... deserves our appreciation for taking the intellectual debate about imperial federation seriously and restoring it to its proper place in late Victorian political thought. His meticulous and engaging analysis offers a fresh perspective on some of the key questions confronting British thinkers in that era of change and uncertainty, questions concerning the territorial limits of the state, the contribution of technology to political integration, the role of race and ethnicity in allegiance to the nation, and the prospects for establishing global government. Some of those questions remain no less pertinent today than they did more than a century ago.\"--Dane Kennedy, Journal of Modern History \"The Idea of Greater Britain is a major addition to the understanding of Victorian political thought. It will be an excellent source of information and analysis for IR and political theorists--especially those working on the history of international relations--and will be indispensable to historians of Victorian society and empire.\"--Alan Goldstone, European Legacy \"In recent years scholars have become alert to the divergence of the academic discipline of international relations--however broadly conceived--from the history of political thought. Duncan Bell's assured and impressive monograph, which is derived from his PhD thesis, demonstrates the rich opportunities to be gained by bringing these two areas of enquiry into closer alignment.\"--Colin Kidd, History of Political Thought\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments ix  Abbreviations xi      Chapter 1: Introduction: Building Greater Britain 1  The Boundaries of Imperial Discourse: Imagining Greater Britain 3  Greater Britain and Imperial Federation: Variations on a Theme 12  Empire and Ideology 20  Outline of the Book 25      Chapter 2: Global Competition and Democracy 31  Balances of Power: Global Threats and Imperial Responses 35  Democracy and the Moral Economy of Empire 40  Emigration and the Social Question 46  Radical Visions of Greater Britain 55      Chapter 3: Time, Space, Empire 63  \"The Eternal Law\": Empire and the Vicissitudes of Distance 66  Nature in Flux, c. 1830-1870 74  Imperial Political Thought in the Age of Scientific Utopianism, c. 1870-1900 81  Remaking the Global Political Imagination 89      Chapter 4: Empire, Nation, State 92  The Turn to Federalism 93  Statehood and Empire 98  J. R. Seeley and the \"World-State\" 108  Race and Nation 113      Chapter 5: The Politics of the Constitution 120  The Virtues of Vagueness 122  Imperial Patriotism and the Constitution 128  Civic Imperialism 137  J. A. Froude and the \"Commonwealth of Oceana\" 143      Chapter 6: The Apostle of Unity 150  The Love of Humanity: Toward a New \"Political Religion\" 152  The Political Theology of Nationalist Cosmopolitanism 158  The Darkening of an English Mind 164  On the Necessity of Imperial Federation 168  The Ambiguities of Unity: India and Ireland 171      Chapter 7: The Prophet of Righteousness 179  Colonial Emancipation and the \"Glorious Future\" of the Anglo-Saxon Race 181  Empire and Character 188  Religion and Liberty 193  India, Ireland, and the Necessity of Despotism 202      Chapter 8: From Ancient to Modern 207  The Functions of the Ancients 210  The End of Empire: Two Models 217  On Novelty 226  Back to the Future 229      Chapter 9: Envisioning America 231  The Model of the Future: America as Template 235  Size Matters: America as Competitor 238  Peace and Justice: The Benefits of Hegemony 247  Through a Glass, Darkly: America as Lesson 250  America, Empire, and Racial Unity 254      Chapter 10: Conclusion: Lineages of Greater Britain 260  Global Consciousness and the Imperial Imagination 260  Reverberations: Some Afterlives of Greater Britain 266      Select Bibliography 273  Index 313","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48865525399895,"sku":"9780691151168","price":31.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780691151168.jpg?v=1722274389","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-idea-of-greater-britain-9780691151168","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}