We already know that the footprint of the British empire is vast and impressive but zoom out from a bird’s eye view and travel the globe, and the scale of the project is enough to take your breath away. Spanning the centuries from the eighteenth century in Boston (and those pesky Puritans) to the twentieth century back home in Liverpool, Tristram Hunt systematically details not just the early beginnings of empire in each city but also charts how Britain’s very definition of the word changed over time. A fascinating read not just for history buffs but for every global citizen.
