Empire

John Mackenzie and Southern Africa

Cecil Northcott describes how Mackenzie’s dream of a liberal empire south of the Zambezi met opposition from Cecil Rhodes and from the Boers.

Villebois-Mareuil and the Boers

The most distinguished of the three thousand foreign volunteers who fought against Britain during the Boer War, writes Roy Macnab, was a brilliantly gifted French soldier.

Simla: The British in India

From the 1830s until the end of British rule, Simla was the summer capital of successive Governors-General and Viceroys.

The Illustrious Garrison

Amid the disasters of the first Afghan War, writes James Lunt, the successful defence of Jellalabad, beyond the Khyber Pass, stands out as a well-deserved battle-honour.

The Uganda Railway

For mixed motives, writes C.E. Hamshere, the construction of the British East African railway was begun in 1892,  to which the development of modern Kenya and Uganda is greatly indebted.

The Historical Roots of the Rhodesian Problem

Michael Langley writes that the enterprise of Rhodes and the creation of a white community in Central Africa were preceded by centuries of conflict between Europeans, Arabs and migrating Bantu.