MAXINE BERG Professor of History, University of Warwick, UK STEPHEN CONWAY Professor of Early Modern History, University College London, UK RICHARD DRAYTON Senior Lecturer in Imperial History, University of Cambridge, UK FELIPE FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO Prince of Asturias Professor of History, Tufts University, USA CATHERINE HALL Professor of Modern History, University College London, UK P. J MARSHALL Professor Emeritus of Imperial History, Kings College, London. PHILIP MORGAN Sidney and Ruth Lapidus Professor in the American Revolutionary Era, Princeton University, USA SIMON SCHAFFER Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, UK

DAVID CANNADINE is the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Professor of British History at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, UK. He is also a regular broadcaster on television and radio in the United Kingdom.

Introduction; D.Cannadine Britain, the Sea, the Empire, the World; F.Fernandez-Armesto Empire, Europe and British Naval Power; S.Conway Empire and British Identity: the Maritime Dimension; P.J.Marshall Cargoes: the Trade in Luxuries from Asia to Europe; M.Berg Maritime Networks and the Making of Knowledge; R.Drayton Instruments, Surveys and Maritime Empire; S.Schaffer Black Experience in Britain's Maritime World, 1763-1833; P.D.Morgan Gender and Empire; C.Hall