Reluctant Imperialism

First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew's Very Short Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Britain is a sharp but subtle account of remarkable economic and social change and an even more remarkable political stability. Britain in 1789 was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half Celtic. By 1914, when it faced its greatest test since the defeat of Napoleon, it was largely urban and English. Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew show the forces behind Britain's rise to its imperial zenith, and the continuing tensions within the nations and classes of the 'union state'. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This packet contains student materials and a teacher's guide. The materials are designed to make complex international issues understandable and meaningful for students. The unit probes the political, moral, and racial issues raised by the Spanish-American War and the acquisition of an overseas empire. Students compare the values and concerns at the turn of the 20th century with the challenges facing U.S. foreign policy today. The teacher's guide contains a suggested day-by-day (for five days) lesson plan and student activities. An optional lesson is given that examines how the changes taking place in U.S. society in the 1890s shaped the U.S. outlook of the world. Topics of the lesson plan are: (1) the values of the era through the voice of Theodore Roosevelt; (2) the attitudes of the contemporary African-American community toward imperialism, racism, and the contributions of black soldiers; (3) the issues confronting the United States at the close of the Spanish-American War; (4) the leading values influencing U.S. public opinion in the fall of 1898; and (5) the long-term consequences of U.S. involvement in the Caribbean and the Philippines. Two concluding optional lessons add a further dimension. The first pulls students into the controversies stirred by Rudyard Kipling's "The White Man's Burden" and the poetic rebuttals that followed. The second probes the groundbreaking historical evidence about the sinking of the "Maine" featured in the study of Admiral Rickover. The guide also outlines an alternative 3-day lesson plan. (BT)

O'Rourke casts his ever-shrewd and mordant eye on America's latest adventures in warfare. He is both incisive reporter and absurdist, relevant and irreverent, with a clear eye for everyone's confusion, including his own. O'Rourke understands that peace is sometimes one of the most troubling aspects of war.

Introduction : empires and indigenous peoples, global transformation and the limits of international society -- From wet diplomacy to scorched earth : the Taiwan expedition, the Guardline and the Wushe rebellion -- The long durée and the short circuit : gender, language and territory in the making of indigenous Taiwan -- Tangled up in red : textiles, trading posts and ethnic bifurcation in Taiwan -- The geobodies within a geobody : the visual economy of race-making and indigeneity