Britain entered the Georgian age as an expanding global power, but its rise was neither smooth nor secure. Across the Atlantic, in India, and throughout Europe, the kingdom faced wars, rebellion, political unrest, and the growing challenge of revolutionary ideas.
This volume explores the dramatic transformation of Britain during the eighteenth century, from imperial expansion and the Seven Years' War to the loss of the thirteen American colonies. It follows the rise of British power in India, the escalating resistance that led to the American Revolution, and the political shock created by the birth of the United States. It also examines the fear that spread through Britain after the French Revolution, the government's response to radicalism, the wars against revolutionary France, and the Act of Union of 1801.