Britain had the biggest empire the world has ever known. At one time a quarter of the global land mass was British. Over a third of the world was insured at Lloyds. At his coronation, more than 400 million people saluted George V. Truly, the sun never set on this historical phenomenon.
Whatever the day, whatever the hour, somewhere on the globe, the empire worked and played the British game - often absurdly so. The story of the British Empire is one of enormous personalities, adventure, scientific and maritime development and the building of one of the most complex international administrations the world has ever seen.
The book shows the history of exploration from the 16th century, but more importantly from the mid-18th century to the period shortly before the First World War. Although it is primarily a history of the Empire and how it was created, sustained and governed, there are two other aspects that will not be ignored: What was the effect on the people themselves - both the colonised and the colonisers? How did it change their lives? And what were the lasting results? And, secondly, why did it all begin to end when it did?
For the decline of the British Empire was perhaps the perfect illustration of the changes among mankind brought about by the astonishing social, political, economic and scientific developments of the 20th century. Just as the Empire had begun in the Old Age of Exploration - the 16th and 17th centuries - so it ended in the New Age of Exploration - the 20th century.
