"Britain and the USA have helped to define much of world history in recent centuries, and the relationship between the two is crucial to this history. Crisis of Empire focuses on a key period which moulded the character of the British Empire and of the USA and thus of this relationship. The rise and crises of empires will always fascinate the observer because in their fate we see much of human history. Certainly the struggle of and for empire in the 18th Century was key to the fate of North America and more generally to that of the West Indies and the North Atlantic." "British victory and the subsequent American Revolution helped to define and delimit the modern world. At European level, the players were Britain, France and Spain, all eager for predominance and for trappings such as trade, land and prestige. Within North America, there were local agents of these powers and their subjects, who had interests and views of their own. There were also the Native Americans who were more than simply passive victims of European expansion." "The story is fascinating and complex, but it is engagingly told by Jeremy Black with narrative drive and flair."--Jacket.

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