This is primarily a picture book, showing the big spectacles that demonstrated to the British people the extent and diversity of their empire. As it is about show-business, in a sense, it's a charming book, and covers its stated aims well. I think that it should be included with the Imperialism trilogy, which is pretty even-handed about the colonialist empires of Europe. Morris is a competent historian of that period of our experience. ( )

This is an examination of the British Empire in the late nineteenth even early twentieth century - the Empire after it had become overripe. Morris shows the Empire at its height, when it had already begun to decline though few, if any, had yet perceived that to be the case. Britania seemed poised to dominate the world for another century or two and yet within another half century, the empire had diminished in size and prestige to a surprising and shocking degree. Morris provides lots of photos illustrating the blazing afternoon sun of the empire before the nightfall encroached and sent it into darkness. ( )