Subverting Empire ─ Deviance and Disorder in the British Colonial World

The British Empire was never as orderly as its architects would have us believe. Across the British imperial world, rules were broken, norms and social conventions were ignored and boundaries were transgressed. This is the first historical study to probe the colonial history of deviance, bringing to light stories of subversive behaviour that were deliberately covered up. With case studies ranging from Britain to New Zealand, India to East and Southern Africa, the book reveals what deviance in a colonial context actually entailed, as well as the ways in which deviants themselves were categorised, controlled and concealed. Ranging from murder to madness, forgery to fornication, Subverting Empire shows up the diverse ways in which governments attempted to enforce social order – and the ingeniousness of those who undermined it.

Will Jackson is Lecturer in Imperial History at the University of Leeds, UK. His first book, Madness and Marginality: The Lives of Kenya's White Insane was published in 2013. He is currently researching the history of migrant failure in Southern Africa and Australia.

Emily J. Manktelow is Lecturer in British Imperial History at the University of Kent. Her first book, Missionary Families: Race, Gender and Generation on the Spiritual Frontier was published in 2013. She is currently researching the social history of gossip in the British Empire.