Imperial Networks investigates the discourses and practices of British colonialism. It reveals how British colonialism in the Eastern Cape region was informed by, and itself informed, imperial ideas and activities elsewhere, both in Britain and in other colonies.

It examines:

* the origins and development of the three interacting discourses of colonialism - official, humanitarian and settler
* the contests, compromises and interplay between these discourses and their proponents
* the analysis of these discourses in the light of a global humanitarian movement in the aftermath of the antislavery campaign
* the eventual colonisation of the Eastern cape and the construction of colonial settler identities.

For any student or resarcher of this major aspect of history, this will be a staple part of their reading diet.

Alan Lester is Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Sussex. His previous publications include From Colonization to Democracy: a New Historical Geography of South Africa (1996) and South Africa Past, Present and Future: Gold at the End of the Rainbow? with E. Nel and T. Binns (2000).