Was the British individual's experience of empire more like Robinson Crusoe, or more like Lemuel Gulliver's? Colley applies an original way to explore the history of England's rise to empire. On the personal level, she explores the way men, women, and children of all classes and occupations were captured in various locations around the world during the under-resourced expansion emanating from Britain. She examines the lives of the captives and their captors to reveal how tentative Britain's empire really was, and how surprising cross-cultural collaborations existed alongside imperial racism. The emerging picture is much more complex than the traditional view. Like new. Anchor Books. 2004. Paper. USED. $3.00