The British Empire
An Internet Gateway by Dr. Jane Samson

Dr. Samson's Home Page British Empire Gateway The 18th C. Maritime World



This Gateway has been completed updated as of January 1st, 2004.
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British Empire Gateway

What's happening?
Find out about journals and discussion lists connected with British empire or Commonwealth studies.

Online courses:
Here you'll find courses on various aspects of the British imperial experience, including history, literature and cultural studies.

Links to other sites:
Visit other gateways, libraries, writings and images of empire, as well as sites dedicated to colonies past and present. I've designed these to provide a range of perspectives.

You're welcome to send me links! If you'd like me to include your course, or if you'd like to see more about particular places or viewpoints, please click here to email me: JANE.SAMSON@UALBERTA.CA



What's happening?

Contents:
1. Centres of Commonwealth Studies
2. Journals
3. Discussion Lists


1. Centres of Commonwealth studies:

Centre for Commonwealth Studies, Stirling
Centre for Commonwealth, United Nations and International Affairs, Dundee
Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London
The Commonwealth of Learning, an international network
or find individual historians researching/teaching British imperial and Commonwealth history in the UK

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2. Journals:

Commonwealth, a journal of postcolonial literature published in France.
Cultures of the Commonwealth, also published in France
The Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies
The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, published in the UK
JOUVERT, a journal of postcolonial studies
Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies
Post-Colonial Studies
The Round Table, a journal of historical and contemporary Commonwealth affairs, published in the UK
Journal of colonialism & colonial history , an electronic publication available through Project Muse. You might not be able to view the journal unless you are located at a subscribing institution.

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3. Discussion Lists:

"EmpireHist: The British Empire Mailing List"
an email discussion group founded by Alexander Schulenburg, focusing on the history of the British Empire and Commonwealth since the 15th century
"H-Net Discussion Networks"
a compendium of dozens of email discussion lists including lists on world history, African, Indian, Middle eastern, British and colonial American history, and much more

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Online Courses

Distance-learning MA in History: Imperialism and Culture administered by Professor Barbara Bush at the School of Development and Society, Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
"British Imperialism" by Dr. Bret Benjamin, University of Texas
"Empire and the British Novel" by Dr. Cannon Schmitt, Grinnell College
"Literature of the Nineteenth Century British Empire" by Dr. Robert Brinlee, Virginia Tech, U.S.A.

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Links to Other Sites

Contents:
1. Resources and Gateways
2. General Sites
3. Maps and Images
4. Miscellaneous Sites of Interest
5. Africa (and Slavery and Antislavery)
6. Middle East
7. South Asia
8. Southeast Asia
9. Canada
10. Colonial USA
11. West Indies
12. South Pacific
13. The British Empire Today



1. Resources and Gateways

ACLALS (Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies)
The Archives Hub, a gateway to archive collections held in UK universities and colleges, including material on imperial history.
"The Second British Empire: Reserve Bibliography" by Profs. Pederson and Travers, Harvard University
"Select Bibliography for the Age of Empire" by Dr. Christopher C. Lovett, Emporia State University
"Postimperial and Postcolonial Literature in English. The British Empire: A Selected Bibliography" compiled by Prof. George P. Landow, Brown University
Contemporary Postcolonial and Postimperial Literature in English an impressive site with historical background and links
"Victorian Images of India: India Bibliography" by Prof. Teresa Mangum, University of Iowa
History of the UK: primary documents
The Royal Commonwealth Society


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2. General Sites

"Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth"(a huge amount of military history information, particularly in the form of links to other sites)
"The British Empire: An Overview" from The Victorian Web
"BBCi. History: The British Empire"
Britain's Possessions 1497-1800
Nineteenth-Century British and Indian Armies
"British Empire Studies" a British Library web site with extensive links to: Museums Libraries Archives; Institutes, Universities, Conferences, Journals, Bibliographies, Mailing Lists, and more.
"The British Empire" by Stephen Luscombe: another huge site with a huge number of links, historical information, articles, bibliographies, maps, and more.
"Imperialism During the 19th Century", a set of links for secondary school use.
"The New Imperialism" by Prof. Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College
The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum . The museum, located in Bristol, opened its permanent galleries in 2002. It shows how the British Empire evolved into independent nations of the Commonwealth, and its global impact through interchanges of peoples, languages, institutions, trade and cultures.

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3. Maps and Images

"The British Empire: Map Room"
"Images of the Black Victorians" a site devoted to the history of black people in Victorian Britain, but covers a wider scope, explains links between the expanding empire and the changing experience of Black people in Britain.
RCS Photograph Project (a Cambridge University Library online database and gallery of the Royal Commonwealth Society Photograph Collection)
Trading Places: The East India Company & Asia a British Library site full of maps and images relating to the East India Company
Canadian Heritage Gallery (maps, images, documents)
"Caribmap: A Cartographic History of the West Indies"


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4. Miscellaneous Sites of Interest

Freemasons and the British Empire
Tea Production in the British Empire
"Cable and Wireless: A History: Around the World" - describes the role of the Cable and Wireless Company in the creation and maintenance of the British empire in the nineteenth century
The British Council history website - explains what the British Council was designed to do, and describes its history between the 1930s and the present (numerous historians discuss and debate its history)
"British Empire, Dominion, Commonwealth Countries and the FAA 1939-1945" (Fleet Air Arm Archive 1939-1945)
"The Cyprus Problem", includes an overview of British rule in Cyprus.


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5. Africa (for Egypt see Middle East)

Africana Strengths online resources for studying colonial Africa
The Universal Black Pages
Internet African History Sourcebook covers ancient history to modern Africa
"Scramble for Africa"
"The Story of Africa" (a BBC series in which African historians tell the story of Africa, including the age of empire, from an African perspective)
"The Boer War South Africa, 1899-1902"
History of Kenya
"History of Mauritius" a Government of Mauritius web site
Nigeria: country profile and history
Botswana history a government of Botswana web site
University of Botswana History Department, an extensive site including links to information about Botswana history, colonial officials and the south African (Boer) War. Thanks to Bruce Bennett for the link!

Slavery and Antislavery
United States National Museum of Slavery
"The British Abolition Movement" by Mark Aronowitz, Miami University (Ohio)
"Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade" a Spartacus Educational website (UK)


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6. Middle East

"History in the News: the Middle East" a SUNY Albany site covering Middle East history ancient to present, current politics, and some bibliographies
MidEast Web GateWay twentieth-century Arab and Israeli history
"Middle East Bibliography - Mandate Palestine"
"The Middle East during World War One" by Prof. David R. Woodward, on the BBCi web site
"Afghanistan Online" - a site with Afghan history from 50,000 B.C.E. to the present, geography, culture, art, politics, and much more.
"The Soviet War in Afghanistan: History and Harbinger of Future War?" - a long essay for Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta by two retired army officers, General (Ret) Mohammad Yahya Nawroz of the Army of Afghanistan and LTC (Ret) Lester W. Grau of the U. S. Army
AfghanSite Network's history pages covers ancient history to the Afghan Civil War
Iraq History
Iraq History Series (mostly the twentieth century)
Iraqi History (WWW Virtual Library page - lots of links)


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7. South Asia

Chronology of Modern India with links on British India
History of Bombay/Mumbai
South Asian Diaspora
"Internet Indian History Sourcebook" extensive site covering ancient history to the present and religious history
East India Company history part of a UCLA site on the history of India more generally
"The Epic of the Race: India 1857" historical background, description of rebellion, and its aftermath
History of Bangladesh
The Indiaman Magazine (a genealogy and history magazine about the British in India)
Center for Study of the Life and Work of William Carey, D.D. (1761-1834). Carey was a missionary, botanist and linguist in Bengal. Thanks to Myron C. Noonkester for the link!

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8. Southeast Asia

"Ch'ing China: The Opium Wars"
History of Hong Kong covers up to pre-takeover
"Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of the HKSAR" a government of Hong Kong information site with discussion of reunification, the declaration, and current situation in Hong Kong
Malaysian History


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9. Canada

Loyalists
Religion in Colonial America (includes Canada)
"Backgrounder Historic Indian Treaties"
"American Indian History and Related Issues"
Canadian Museum of Civilization
"Canadian History Gateway - Annotated Directory of Online Resources"
Canadian History Portal (lots of links)
Canadian History (WWW Virtual Library)
Canadian Heritage Gallery (maps, images, documents)


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10. Colonial USA

The American Revolution
Archiving Early America
Colonial America Timeline
USA: Colonial Period
New Jersey Historic Documents
Maps of colonial America
"Colonial America 1600-1775"
"America in the British Empire" (an essay covering the mid-sixteenth century to 1783)
"America in the British Empire" an essay and some multiple-choice quizzes
"The Charters of Freedom" a government site containing the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and historical discussion about them, photos of them, etc.


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West Indies

Jamaica History Jamaica National Heritage Trust web site covering pre-Columbian Jamaica to independence
"World History Archives: The History of the Caribbean and Bermuda"
"Caribmap: A Cartographic History of the West Indies"


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12. South Pacific

The Australian Studies Network
History Resources on the Australian Studies Network
Australian History
New Zealand History
Norfolk Island Web Site
Pacific Islands Internet Resources Home Page
Samoa History
"Chronological History of Samoa"
The Tonga Page
The Tongan History Association(has the Association's newsletter and numerous links)


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13. The British Empire Today

General Sites
International Centre for Island Studies has an extensive index of islands with information about them; includes most current British dependencies

British Dependent Territories
Bermuda History
The Falkland Islands War
Pitcairn Island Information
The St. Helena Institute Web Site


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You're welcome to send comments or questions to me at jane.samson@ualberta.ca
Site updated on 1 January, 2004.
© Jane Samson, 2004.