India, often declared "the jewel in the crown" for the Empire, had won its independence just five years before. In 1952, British troops were fighting independence movements in Egypt and Kenya.

Save guides, add subjects and pick up where you left off with your BBC account. The British Empire began in the late 1500s under Queen Elizabeth I. By 1913 the empire had grown to rule over 400 ...

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Ten plates used to print maps of the British Empire have been found in scrapyards. One of them, dated 1779, had been bought by a farmer in Norfolk to use as a mudguard for his tractor.

BOOK I. is divided into three sections; the first deals with the growth of England from the time of the Roman invasion to the beginning of the sixteenth century, the second with the building-up of ...

Below is a map from 1901 showing the “British Empire” at one of its peak periods. The map doesn't convey the extent of British influence, especially, in Latin America.

Yet “Empireworld” seeks neither to bury the British Empire, nor to praise it. Mr Sanghera is not soliciting guilt or shame, for “history does not care about anyone’s feelings”.