Dictionary of the British Empire and Commonwealth

This is a companion to the political, cultural, religious, military and economic events that have shaped the transformation of a Victorian empire into a world community, still linked in free association.;The dictionary looks back to the beginning of British maritme expansion but concentrates specifically on 1800 and onwards. As well as providing outline histories of member states it offers guidance to the many organizations which link them in cultural, scientific and economic co-operation. It includes sketches of politicians and administrators, missionaries and explorers, soldiers and seafarers, pioneers of the air routes, engineers and inventors, and many others who contributed to the arts, to physical and medical science and to literature. There are entries on cinema and theatre, on sports, on nationl disasters, and on the relics of Empire - railways, hill stations and even hotels.