Captives : The Story of Britain's pursuit of empire and how its soldiers and civilians were held captive by the dream of mglobal supremacy, 1600-1850

Britain's pursuit of empire seems an inecorable march across continents toward its ultimate - if temporary - global hegemony. But, as Linda Colley shows, Britain's overseas enterprises were always constrained by its own limitations in size, population, and armed forces, and by divisions among its subjects - constraints and deficiencies that could make the dream of empire an ordeal even for its makers.