All About History – Book Of The British Empire (2016)

It was famously said that at the height of its power the British Empire was so vast that the Sun never set on it. To be more precise, an astonishing 33.7 million square kilometres – almost a quarter of the planet’s land area – were touched by the rays of British colonialism at this time. But of course, when we talk about the Empire it’s not just territorial gains and losses that are involved, and by 1922 the British monarch oversaw a gobsmacking 458 million subjects. It was the largest empire in history – a colossal feat for an insignifi cant bundle of islands tucked away in the chilly North Atlantic. So how did Britain manage to amass such a sprawling domain?