The Reluctant Imperialists; British Foreign Policy 1878-1902
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1969. First American Edition [stated] Presumed first printing. Hardcover. xiv, 417, [1] pages. Abbreviations. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. Index. The dust jacket has slight wear and soiling. The Reluctant Imperialists: British Foreign Policy 1878–1902 by C. J. Lowe argues that Great Britain’s late-Victorian territorial expansion was driven by defensive reactions to international crises rather than a deliberate plan for global dominance. The study demonstrates how managing traditional strategic interests and the balance of power unintentionally led the nation into a position of vulnerable strategic isolation by the turn of the century. Cedric James Lowe (1930–1975) was a prominent British-born international historian and scholar who specialized in late 19th- and early 20th-century diplomatic history. After serving as a lecturer in International History at the London School of Economics, Lowe relocated to Canada in 1968 to become a Professor of History at the University of Alberta, where he taught and mentored a generation of prominent international historians. Renowned for his meticulous analysis of cabinet archives and prime ministerial correspondence, he authored several definitive foundational texts on the geopolitics of the British Empire, including Salisbury and the Mediterranean (1965) and the multi-volume series The Mirage of Power (1972) alongside co-author Michael Dockrill. His academic career was cut tragically short when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1975 at the age of 45. A major contribution to the fields of colonial and diplomatic history, The Reluctant Imperialists provides the student of British foreign policy with an in-depth analysis of an ambivalent era--an era when Britain, although superficially at the peak of territorial, economic, and political power, was already beginning to manifest signs of eventual decline. In the first section of the book, the authors focuses his attention on Great Britain as the protagonist in Europe as well as in the Far East and Africa. The resultant conflicts, entanglements, alliances, and enmities derived from the feverish pursuit of colonialism are all brought to the fore, dispelling the long-prevalent myth of :splendid isolation." Considerable stress is laid upon strategic factors and particularly upon military and naval weaknesses as elements behind policy. The second section is devoted exclusively to rare and significant selects (most of which are being published here for the first time: from contemporary sources; specifically private correspondence and valuable cabinet memoranda that serve to illustrate the author's interpretation of history as well as to provide the reader with a more intimate glimpse of the Victorian political scene. When combined, both parts of The Reluctant Imperialists offer a careful scrutiny of the role of imperialism in determining British foreign policy. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Imperialism, Eastern Question, Egypt, India, Salisbury, East Africa, Franco-Russian Alliance, Foreign Policy, New East, Far East
[Book #91890]
Price: $75.00