1 Introduction – Jason Peacey
2 The pivot of empire: party politics, Spanish America and the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) – Steve Pincus
3 Party politics and empire in the early eighteenth century – J. H. Elliott
4 From anti-popery and anti-puritanism to orientalism – William J. Bulman
5 Protestantism and the politics of overseas expansion in later Stuart England – Gabriel Glickman
6 Reconciling empire: English political economy and the Spanish imperial model, 1660–90 – Leslie Theibert
7 Legal geography and colonial sovereignty: the making of early English ‘Bombay’ – Philip J. Stern
8 Compensating imperial loyalty, 1700–1800 – Julian Hoppit
9 Sheffield’s vision: the American Revolution and the 1783 partition of North America – Eliga H. Gould
10 Legal pluralism and Burke’s law of nations – Jennifer Pitts
Index

This volume reappraises the origins and nature of the first British empire. Taking into account current debates about how best to address the topic, methodologically and thematically, it offers new perspectives and approaches from some of the most important scholars in the field.

The aim is not to return to older modes of scholarship, but to learn from the ‘new imperial history’ while reintegrating political and institutional perspectives. Contributors explore contemporary debates, both within the metropole and across the empire, and how these affected imperial ‘policy’ and its implementation, not least in the face of profound challenges on the ground. These debates ranged widely and were political and intellectual as well as religious and administrative. They related to ideas about political economy, legal geography and sovereignty, as well as about the messy realities of the imperial project, including the costs and losses of empire, collectively and individually.

Featuring contributions from a remarkable selection of scholars, including Sir John Elliott, Julian Hoppit, Steve Pincus, Jennifer Pitts and Philip J. Stern, Making the British empire will be of interest to historians and political scientists working in a range of areas. Its novel approaches and provocative arguments will help to shape the field on this most important of topics.