Spanning four centuries and six continents, this survey examines the imperial experience and its legacy with tremendous verse. Informed, comprehensive and perceptive, it is the essential summary of the era.

This is an account of British rule in India. It is the remarkable story of how the British made themselves masters of the subcontinent in less than a century, and then ruled it for a further century before departing in 1947, leaving behind the independent states of India and Pakistan.