Building Better Britains?: Settler Societies in the British World, 1783-1920

‘A useful addition to the growing field of settler colonialism, this book is an excellent introduction to the topic… Highly recommended.’

C.V. Reed, Choice Magazine vol 55:02:2017

‘The text is incredibly timely… Morgan successfully uncovers the complexities of the British world colonial encounter… Future historians can now build upon the platform and further broach questions of interaction between settler societies, and whether settles societies were really better Britains.’

Katie Pickles, Canadian Historical Review vol 99:01:2018

"Building Better Britains? Is a well-crafted and necessary study of the complexities of emergent settler polities in the nineteenth century…This book will be a welcome addition to those teaching or studying the complicated histories of settler colonialism or nineteenth-century British imperialism."

T.J. Tallie, Victorian Studies, Indiana University-vol 60.2 Winter 2018

"[Building Better Britians?] is the most ambitious volume in the series, in terms of both its geographical and its chronological reach."

Phillip Buckner, University of New Brunswick, British Journal of Canadian Studies, vol 31 no 1

The corpus of scholarship on the history and legacy of empires has been greatly enhanced by this wide-ranging and seamlessly structured comparative study. Building Better Britains? offers a nuanced, interrogative treatment of themes which at one level are familiar to any student of imperial history, but which warrant the deeper scrutiny provided by this carefully crafted and stimulating book.

Marjory Harper, University of Aberdeen

Building Better Britains? provides a comprehensive and insightful synthesis of recent research on the British world. The book surveys what it meant to be ‘British’ in this era, as revealed through such varied topics as migration, settler economies, private life and voluntary associations, and the relationship between settler nationalism and pan-imperial identities. It will be of interest to students of the British Empire, Indigenous-newcomer relations, and the histories of settlement colonies.

Daniel Gorman, University of Waterloo