The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

Laboratory of Empire: Calcutta, Opium, and the Wartime Invention of Regulation During the Second World War, Calcutta became a laboratory of imperial and international regulation. In the city’s police stations and opium shops, American narcotics agents and Indian officials imp...

Check out the recent article 'Laboratory of Empire: Calcutta, Opium, and the Wartime Invention of Regulation' by Benjamin R. Siegel: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Mountbatten, Cold War and Empire, 1945-79 Mountbatten, Cold War and Empire 1945-79 focuses upon Admiral Lord Mountbatten as a commanding – if controversial – figure in the history of Britain and its emp…

Still looking for a reviewer for this book for @jich.bsky.social

www.bloomsbury.com/au/mountbatt...

Intra-Caribbean Diplomacy and Imperial Negotiation; Edward Trelawny, the Marquis de Larnage, and Anglo-French relations in the West Indies, 1720–1748 During the early modern period, concepts of power and authority were heavily contested between rival nations and nascent colonial empires. However, this negotiation was also present in the dealings...

Fresh and #OpenAccess, check out 'Intra-Caribbean Diplomacy and Imperial Negotiation; Edward Trelawny, the Marquis de Larnage, and Anglo-French relations in the West Indies, 1720–1748' by Christos Giannatos: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Imperial Crime and Punishment: Approaches from Historical Criminology, by Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2026)

Have a read of Patrick Cacicedo's review of the book 'Imperial Crime and Punishment: Approaches from Historical Criminology', by Emma D. Watkins & Eleanor Bland (eds.) (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2025): doi.org/10.1080/0308...

A Peaceful Place: Raising Imperial Children at China’s Moganshan Hill Station Across the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, hill stations served as meaningful places of respite for imperial families, providing them with opportunities to escape the heat and political u...

See the recent article 'A Peaceful Place: Raising Imperial Children at China’s Moganshan Hill Station' by Hayley Keon: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Check out our call for Book Reviews for 2026. Please get in touch with @evansmithhist.bsky.social if you have a book in mind: networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

Visibility and Invisibility: An Examination of Hong Kong’s Film Censorship System during the Cold War Period To maintain social order and convey political attitudes, the British who returned to Asia after the Second World War gradually established a film censorship system in Hong Kong, imposing restrictio...

Check out the recent research article 'Visibility and Invisibility: An Examination of Hong Kong’s Film Censorship System during the Cold War Period' by Ziheng Zhou: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

‘Alien’ Colonial Law, Anglo–Chinese Power Relations, and the End of the Hong Kong Refugee Regime This article examines the end of the ‘Hong Kong refugee regime’, a by-product of the open borders between Hong Kong and China agreed in several nineteenth-century trade treaties between the British...

Hot off the press! Check out '‘Alien’ Colonial Law, Anglo–Chinese Power Relations, and the End of the Hong Kong Refugee Regime' by Rosaria Franco: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

I am the book reviews editor for @jich.bsky.social and always looking for new review pitches. If you’d like to review a recently published book on imperial, colonial or Commonwealth history (broadly defined), please get in touch: evan dot smith at adelaide dot edu dot au. Authors, get in touch too!

Ghostly Past, Capitalist Presence: A Social History of Fear in Colonial Bengal Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2026)

See Bipasha Bhattacharyya's review of 'Ghostly Past, Capitalist Presence: A Social History of Fear in Colonial Bengal' by Tithi Bhattacharya (Duke University Press, 2024): doi.org/10.1080/0308...

The Debate over British Reparations for Mandate-Era Governance of Palestine? Three views As reparations are being demanded from more former colonial powers, Britain is in the crosshairs for Palestine, given the century-long conflict that has resulted. According to the view most commonl...

See the recent #OpenAccess debate essay 'The Debate over British Reparations for Mandate-Era Governance of Palestine? Three views' by John B. Quigley: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Against a Mercatorial Sovereignty: The British Imperial State and the East India Company, 1783–1784 Transformed by the experience of decades of imperial crisis, Charles James Fox introduced a series of measures in Parliament, in the autumn of 1783, proposing to remake the British Empire in India....

Check out the recent exploration 'Against a Mercatorial Sovereignty: The British Imperial State and the East India Company, 1783–1784' by Sunit Singh: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

The Implementation of the 1943 Sino-British Treaty and the Liquidation of British Interests in Post-Treaty-Port China: Perspectives from Tianjin, 1945–1948 As a pivotal document in the history of Sino-British relations, the 1943 Sino-British Treaty not only abrogated Britain’s extraterritorial privileges but also included provisions on the management ...

See the latest article 'The Implementation of the 1943 Sino-British Treaty and the Liquidation of British Interests in Post-Treaty-Port China: Perspectives from Tianjin, 1945–1948' by Taoyu Yang: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Rubber Crisis and the Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) has traditionally been studied through the lens of political history, with a particular focus on the tensions between the Malayan Communist Party and the British c...

Have a read of the recent article 'Rubber Crisis and the Malayan Emergency' by Koon Kein Pang: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Circumvention of Most-Favoured-Nation clause by the policy of Imperial Preferences This study examines how the British Empire strategically circumvented the most-favoured-nation (MFN) clause through the policy of Imperial Preferences during the interwar period. While existing sch...

Check out the recent article 'Circumvention of Most-Favoured-Nation clause by the policy of Imperial Preferences' by Vikramaditya Awasthy: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Imperial Crime and Punishment: Approaches from Historical Criminology, by Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2026)

New book review published advance access by @jich.bsky.social

@patrickcacicedo.bsky.social reviews "Imperial Crime and Punishment: Approaches from Historical Criminology", edited by Emma D. Watkins and Eleanor Bland

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Decolonisation, Unstable Sovereignties and Development: The Indian Sterling Balance Negotiations of 1947 Indo-British financial negotiations in 1947, a crucial year in the compressed timing of imperial retreat, impacted the shape of decolonisation and also the U.S.-led post-War global financial system...

Fresh and #OpenAccess, see 'Decolonisation, Unstable Sovereignties and Development: The Indian Sterling Balance Negotiations of 1947' by Atiya Hussain: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Resistance in the Penal Space: Andaman Hunger Strikes and the Inverted Narrative of India’s Struggle for Freedom This article examines Andaman penal narratives and argues that resistance is a central metaphor in India’s penal transportation history, not only as defiance but also as a process of political iden...

Check out the recent article 'Resistance in the Penal Space: Andaman Hunger Strikes and the Inverted Narrative of India’s Struggle for Freedom' by Susmita Sarangi & Akshaya K. Rath: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

There has recently been a welcome growth in work at the intersection of business history and German colonial. This very interesting essay, from @nkleinoeder.bsky.social, is the most recent addition to this emerging stream of work.

The Debate over British Reparations for Mandate-Era Governance of Palestine? Three views As reparations are being demanded from more former colonial powers, Britain is in the crosshairs for Palestine, given the century-long conflict that has resulted. According to the view most commonl...

Our latest 'Current Debates' essay is now out! In 'The Debate over British Reparations for Mandate-Era Governance of Palestine? Three views' John B. Quigley questions the legality of Britain's League of Nations Mandate over Palestine. #OpenAccess @jich.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1080/0308...

The East India Company as Landowner Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2025)

See the fascinating #OpenAccess essay 'The East India Company as Landowner' by John Marriott: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

I started the first working week of 2026 with this very interesting text by @nkleinoeder.bsky.social. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in the intersection of colonial labour history, colonial business history and infrastructure history.

Returning to my research today I am pleased to find this on my virtual desk.

The article focusses on the iron jetty in Swakopmund (Namibia) that was built after the colonial war. It connects perspectives of business, labour and colonial history.

The Bankruptcy of the ‘South Sea Kings’: Plantation Business, Labour Recruitment and German Politics in the Western Pacific, 1870s and 1880s The Hamburg merchant house Joh. Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn shaped the German presence in the Western Pacific from the 1850s until its bankruptcy in 1879. While initially focusing on trade, a shift towar...

Check out one of our latest #OpenAccess piece 'The Bankruptcy of the ‘South Sea Kings’: Plantation Business, Labour Recruitment and German Politics in the Western Pacific, 1870s and 1880s' by Julian zur Lage: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History.
New and #OpenAccess, check out 'On Site. Colonial Labour, Business and the Construction of the Swakopmund Jetty, c. 1911–1915' by Nina Kleinöder:

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History Publishes works on the history of the British Empire, Commonwealth and comparative European colonial experiences, including imperial policies and decolonization

Alongside this, I also edited over 30 book reviews for @jich.bsky.social

www.tandfonline.com/journals/fic...

On Site. Colonial Labour, Business and the Construction of the Swakopmund Jetty, c. 1911–1915 The Swakopmund jetty was one of only two entry points to the colony of German South West Africa (GSWA) located on the Atlantic coast. It was first built as a silted-up mole at the turn of the centu...

New and #OpenAccess, check out 'On Site. Colonial Labour, Business and the Construction of the Swakopmund Jetty, c. 1911–1915' by Nina Kleinöder: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History Publishes works on the history of the British Empire, Commonwealth and comparative European colonial experiences, including imperial policies and decolonization

With that said, if you’re interested in reviewing a newly published book in the field of imperial or Commonwealth history (broadly defined) for @jich.bsky.social, please get in touch!

www.tandfonline.com/journals/fic...

Working Through a War: The Traders of John Holt & Co. in Cameroon During the First World War This paper will explore the experiences of John Holt & Co.’s European and African traders who were in German-controlled Cameroon when war broke out in August of 1914. Using company and government a...

Hot off the press and #OpenAccess, see 'Working Through a War: The Traders of John Holt & Co. in Cameroon During the First World War' by Deborah Neill: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

The East India Company as Landowner Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2025)

Our most recent Current Debates essay is now out. In "The East India Company as Landowner" John Marriott considers the legal origins of British colonial rule in India. #OpenAccess

doi.org/10.1080/0308...

@jich.bsky.social