Ronald Robinson (1920 - 99) was Beit Professor of Commonwealth History and Fellow of Balliol College, University of Oxford. John Gallagher (1919 - 80) was Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History and Fellow of Trinity College, University of Cambridge. Alice Denny was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and George Washington University.

• Introduction by Wm. Roger LouisExplanationPrefaceThe Spirit of Victorian ExpansionMoral Suasion over Guinea and Zanzibar, 1815-1880The Revolt of the Afrikaner, 1877-1881The Suez Crisis, 1882Gladstone’s Bondage in EgyptRepercussions south of the SaharaRhodes’ Counterpoise, 1887-1891Cairo or Constantinople? 1885-1890New Frontiers of InsecuritySalisbury’s Watch on the Nile, 1890Uganda, the Rout of LiberalismThe Way to Fashoda‘Imperialist’ Beginnings in West AfricaSouth Africa: Another Canada or another United States?Nationalism and ImperialismAfterthoughtsIndex

'Interesting, penetrating and profoundly provocative.' Asa Briggs, New Statesman 'If the first requirement of history is that it should be memorable, the authors of this book have succeeded.' Roland Oliver, The Observer