As well as presenting a lively narrative of events, Bernard Porter explores a number of broad analytical themes, challenging more conventional and popular interpretations. He sees imperialism as a symptom not of Britain's strength in the world, but of her decline; and he argues that the empire itself both aggravated and obscured deep-seated malaise in the British economy.
Bernard Porter is Emeritus Professor of Modern History, University of Newcastle, UK. One of the most important and controversial historians of the British Imperial period, his works include The Absent-Minded Imperialists (2006), winner of the AHA Maurice Forkosch Prize. He has taught at the Universities of Hull, Rochester (NY State), Yale and Sydney, and held Research Fellowships at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and the Australian National University and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Copenhagen.
