Sweet Enemies An entangled history of the British and French empires 1750 to 2000

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course offers a comparative and connected history of the British and French imperial experiences, from the mid eighteenth until the end of the twentieth century. The British and French empires are usually considered arch rivals. By contrast, the course will emphasise anglo french collaboration as a key mechanism of Western expansion overseas, and examine how the two empires often influenced each other. Special attention will be paid to ideas about race and cultural differences and how they shaped British and French colonial societies. The traditional view that the British favoured indirect rule and the French assimilation will be tested and its limits highlighted. Students will have the opportunity to engage with recent scholarship on European colonialism, key contemporary texts about imperial expansion and visual sources.