Captives: Britain, Empire and the World 1600-1850

(Paperback)

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Ranging over a quarter of a millenium and four continents, this richly illustrated book uncovers the lives, deaths and autobiographical writings of a vital but forgotten constituency: the tens of thousands of men and women who took part in Britain's rise to imperial pre-eminence but who got caught and caught out. Here are the stories of Sarah Shade, a camp follower imprisoned alongside defeated British legions in Southern India; of Joseph Pitts, white slave and pilgrim to Mecca; of Florentia Sale, captive and diarist in Afghanistan; of those individuals who crossed the cultural divide and switched identities, like the Irishman George Thomas; and of others who made it back, like the one-time Chippewa warrior and Scot, John Rutherford. Colley uses these accounts to re-evaluate the character and diversity of the British Empire. She explores what they reveal about British responses to, relations with, and frequent dependence on various non-European peoples. She shows how British attitudes to Islam, slavery, race and American revolutionaries look different once the perspective of the captive is admitted. And she demonstrates how these individual captives illuminate the limits of Britain's global power over time - as well as its extent.

Reviews

'Captives is a major work: a complete reappraisal of a period, strikingly original in both theme and form, mixing narrative and fine descriptive prose with analysis in an entirely fresh and gripping way...It will undoubtedly confirm Colley's reputation not only as one of the most exciting historians of her generation, but also one of the most interesting writers of non-fiction around.' William Dalrymple, Guardian

Author Bio

Linda Colley was born in Britain in 1949. She has taught at Cambridge, Yale University and the London School of Economics. She is currently Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University. Colley was awarded the CBE in the 2009 New Year Honours. Her previous books include In Defiance of Oligarchy- The Tory Party 1714-1760 and Namier.