The Empire of Progress: West Africans, Indians, and Britons at the British Empire Exhibition, 1924-25

Though scholars have devoted considerable attention to connections between British domestic culture and imperial expansion, the twentieth century - in particular, the imperial culture of the interwar years - has been relatively neglected, even though propaganda on imperial themes reached a fever pitch after the First World War, culminating in the 1924-25 British Empire Exhibition. The Exhibition was the largest such public event in the nation's history to that point, and it heralded a turning point in the history of British imperialism. Situated as it was at the intersection of empire, national identity, and popular culture, it embodied ongoing conflicts over the future direction of imperialism. This much-needed study of the British Empire Exhibition helps to correct an historiographical imbalance by illustrating durable, persistent connections between empire and domestic society in Britain during the interwar years, bridging the era of Victorian dominance and the new 'liberal' discourses of 'progress' and colonial 'development' that emerged in the 1920s.

Table of Contents:
1. 'Developing the Family Estate' 2. Building the Exhibition in India and West Africa 3. 'Progress' in the Tropics: Representing Modern Changes in India and sub-Saharan Tropical Africa 4. Imperialism for the People Conclusion: Winding Up Wembley

About the Author :
Daniel Stephen is Lecturer in History at University of Colorado Boulder, USA. His work has appeared in Twentieth Century British History and The Journal of British Studies.

Review :
'The largest and most ambitious in the tradition of imperial expositions, the 1924 Empire Exhibition brought the empire 'home' to the outskirts of north London, heralding a new era of imperial unity and development while adhering to the principle of colonial self-sufficiency and reproducing racist caricatures. In the first book-length account of the exhibition at Wembley, its context, and its contradictions, Stephens provides new insight into the British Empire during the interwar years, when it reached a tenuous apex and inspired mounting opposition both in Britain and in the colonies.' - Marc Matera, Assistant Professor, History Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA 'This is an insightful, well-written study of the often overlooked Wembley Empire Exhibition of 1924-25 that treats with great sensitivity the fair's non-European participants. That The Empire of Progress does so within the context of twentieth-century British history and the history of Britain's empire is all the more impressive.' - Jeffrey Auerbach, Professor of History, California State University Northridge, USA 'The Empire of Progress is a welcome addition to the literature on the inter-war empire. It provides a comprehensive and illuminating study of the contribution the 1924-5 Empire Exhibition made to promoting an 'empire consciousness' and to the evolution of emergent discourses of colonial development in the wider context of new post-war challenges to the British empire, including the growth of anti-colonial resistance.' - Barbara Bush, Emeritus Professor of History, Sheffield Hallam University, UK