How similar, and how different, was the British Empire in comparison with other modern European empires – French, Spanish, Austrian, Ottoman, and Russian? How did overseas empires differ from land empires? What was the relation of nation to empire? This talk will use the British Empire as a basis of comparison with other major European empires of the modern era. While noting differences, it will stress commonalities and will argue that there is a European ‘tradition of empire’.

Krishan Kumar is University Professor and William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia. He was previously Professor of Social and Political Thought at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Among his publications are The Making of English National Identity (2003); The Idea of Englishness (2015); and Visions of Empire: How Five Imperial Regimes Shaped the World (2017).