About Orb and Sceptre: Studies in British Imperialism and Its Legacies, in Honour of Norman Etherington

Edited by Peter Limb
Publication date: July 2008
Pages: 296

Orb and Sceptre brings together recent cutting-edge work on British imperialism by Australian researchers closely associated with Norman Etherington, one of Australia's most eminent scholars in this field. Orb and Sceptre reflects the trajectory of British Empire history in the academy over the last forty years. Demands for new nationalist histories for decolonised territories have combined with renewed attention to the role of the periphery in the making and unmaking of empires. This has formed an explosive mix that has blown apart traditional conceptions of Empire and Commonwealth history.

The colonial construction of knowledge is a principal theme in Orb and Sceptre. Former colonies and dependencies looked to a fresh generation of historians to write their histories, generally conceived as grand narratives of escape from imperial shackles. At the same time, a new wave of scholars influenced by feminism, neo-Marxism, dependency theory and postcolonialism laid the groundwork for a renaissance in Empire and Commonwealth history. These historians have been rediscovering the links that continue to connect former colonies to their imperial pasts.

This book offers:

• A showcase of new studies in British Imperialism by Australian and international scholars, highlighting cutting-edge approaches and areas of interest from cultural studies to biography and landscape studies, as well as traditional areas such as political history, immigration, and military history;
• Exciting new research on Australian, Asian and African history; and
• A bibliography of the works of Norman Etherington.

The book is enlivened by a wide range of illustrative material, including photos, drawings and maps.

Orb and Sceptre is a festschrift in honour of Norman Etherington, one of Australia's most eminent scholars of imperialism.

ISBN: 978-0-9803616-6-7 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-9803616-7-4 (web)

Contents

'Introduction'   -   Peter Limb

Part I: Periphery and Metropole in Imperial Overrule

Chapter 1:  'Educating Govind Singh: "Princely character" and the failure of indirect rule in colonial India'   -    Fiona Groenhout

Chapter 2:  'Shepstone in love: The other Victorian in an African colonial administrator'   -   Jennifer Weir and Norman Etherington

Chapter 3:  'The irregular progress of empire: Lord Chelmsford and the Zulu War'   - Keith Smith

Part II: Colonial Networks of Power and Knowledge

Chapter 4:  'Tethered antipodes: Imperial impress in central Perth, Western Australia'   -   Felicity Morel-EdnieBrown

Chapter 5:  'King Shaka, the diviners and colonialism'   -   Jennifer Weir

Chapter 6:  'George McCall Theal and South African history textbooks: Enduring influence of settler historiography in descriptions of the fifth "Frontier War" 1818-19'   -   Ryôta Nishino

Chapter 7:  'The subaltern's orb and sceptre: Early ANC leaders and the British World'   -   Peter Limb

Part III: Transnational and Global Entanglements

Chapter 8: '"Disturbing and most poisonous agitations": HenryParkes, populism and the usurpation of law in New South Wales, 1888'   -   Jeremy Martens

Chapter 9:  'The business of empire: The Fujian tea industry and trade through the eyes of Jardine, Matheson & Co., 1928-39'   -   Jason Lim

Chapter 10:  'Little worlds: Australian zoological gardens'   -   Natalie Lloyd

Chapter 11:  '"My empire, not merely yours": Australian conservatives and their imperial worlds'   -   Tim Dymond

Chapter 13:  'Till death do us part? Commercial TV, changing family values and Queen Elizabeth II's Commonwealth'   -   Jennifer McGuire

End matter

'Norman Etherington: A bibliography of publications and printed public addresses'

'List of contributors'

'Index'

Availability

This book is available online, in both PDF and HTML formats, and as a paperback. See the Orb and Sceptre 'Pricing and Ordering Information' section for purchasing details.

Contributors

• Tim Dymond, Community and Public Sector Union
• Norman Etherington, University of Western Australia
• Fiona Groenhout, independent scholar
• Jason Lim, Nanyang Technological University
• Peter Limb, Michigan State University
• Natalie Lloyd, University of Auckland
• Jennifer McGuire, corporate communication consultant
• Jeremy Martens, University of Western Australia
• Felicity Morel-EdnieBrown, University of Western Australia
• Ryôta Nishino, independent scholar
• Keith Smith, independent scholar
• Jennifer Weir, Murdoch University

About the editor

Peter Limb received his PhD from the University of Western Australia. He is Associate Professor (Adjunct) in the History Department at Michigan State University, where he is also Africana Bibliographer. His books include Nelson Mandela: A Biography (Greenwood, 2008), Digital Dilemmas and Solutions (Chandos, 2004), and, with Norman Etherington and Peter Midgely, Indigenous Responses to Colonialism (Brill, forthcoming). He has also written on Australian historian Fred Alexander and the history of the Australian antiapartheid movement.

Publisher

Monash University ePress

Building 4
Monash University
Wellington Road
Clayton 3800
Victoria
Australia

Website: www.epress.monash.edu/
Email: epress at lib.monash.edu.au (replace 'at' with '@' and remove the spaces.)