Marking the hundredth publication of the British-led series Studies in Imperialism, Writing Imperial Histories contemplates the trajectory of more than twenty years of associated scholarly work. If the goals of the series (namely, to foster a novel scholarly examination of neglected historical subjects and to explore the deeply intersectional nature of metropolitan and imperial histories) seem superfluous today, it is in large part because of the important catalyzing effect that the series has had in changing historical discourse. This volume can thus be forgiven its slightly self-congratulatory tone. When the collected essays remind the reader of just how many ideas put forward by authors in the series have become pervasive, within the academy and beyond, they are not exaggerating. Works ranging from the important-yet-problematic (Ronald Hyam's Sexuality in Empire, 1990) to the indispensable (Mrinalini Sinha's Colonial Masculinity, 1995) demonstrate that such praise is merited, as scholars of empire are deeply indebted to a generation of academics whose foci of gender, sexuality, imperial discipline, and subjectivity have provided analytical inspiration far beyond their initial topics of inquiry.

If some contentions sound like hagiography – such as Andrew Thompson's affirmation that, like the discipline it helped to spawn, the series has shown a ‘striking capacity’ for self-renewal (p. 2) – the depth and breadth of selected essays demonstrates how the field of Imperial Studies has managed to encompass a wide range of topics without sacrificing its critical lens. Andrew S. Thompson's introductory assessment, for example, points to fruitful work being done to promote new understandings of time, culture, and identity, but problematizes the assumptions that have continued to inform scholarship in the field. For instance, while much scholarly attention has rightly been devoted to investigating the influences of the imperial world upon the imperial powers at home, that distinction between metropole and colony still seems to haunt those trying to dispense with it. Stuart Ward's history of imperial historiography tackles that problem head-on, identifying a persistent imperial mindset in the Britain of the late twentieth century as the nation-state confronted the aftermath of decolonization, immigration, and neoimperial machinations. As Ward recognizes, the ‘interconnectedness’ (p. 41) of Britain and its former possessions is a concept that was shaped by the hands of other authors in the series. Chief among them was Mrinalini Sinha, whose own essay on the transmutation of the British Empire from imperial to national formation employs her conception to great effect. Likewise, Cherry Leonardi's discussion of culture and power highlights the centrality of boundary crossing to imperial life.

As in any collection of essays, there are moments of unevenness. In contrast to the potent assessments of Sinha and Ward, Martin Thomas's essay on colonial policing seems to recycle century-old emphases on political economy and state power. While his analysis is apt, it neglects the strong cultural threads upon which Studies in Imperialism built its reputation. The volume's momentum recovers, however, with help from Chandrika Kaul and Sunil Amrith. Kaul skips refreshingly across time and discipline in a globetrotting, multidimensional examination of the colonial and postcolonial media, while Amrith weaves a clever tapestry of clarity and complexity as he writes of Chinese diasporas that stretch so far that they must be analyzed in a panimperial context.

Coincident attention to genealogy and innovative potential is the hallmark of this collection. Leonardi and Ward, among others, connect recent cutting-edge scholarship with its still-active ancestor: John M. MacKenzie, the founding editor of the Studies in Imperialism. The theme reappears subtly in Robert Aldrich's study of gender in empire, as he demonstrates that the series carved out a space for sexuality to be taken seriously as a point of historical investigation, and, more pointedly, when Dane Kennedy traces a clear path from early histories of exploration to the environmental histories now in vogue in the academy. In fact, the dual vantage points make this collection much more than a retrospective. While each of the essays elucidates the importance of past contributions to the field, the assembled authors also propose compelling future paths of inquiry. Aldrich observes that sexuality became a somewhat under-examined topic shortly after it sprang from series-associated minds; as he argues, it might well provide a locus for wider-ranging studies across empires. Meanwhile, Sinha asserts that the concept of an ‘empire-nation nexus’ may continue to provide fresh insights on citizenship, national formations, and global histories. Such a nexus, along with Amrith's diasporic model, might be indicative of the direction Thomas and his colleagues envision for the series, and in imperial studies at large: work that cuts across existing knowledge to enable novel reconceptions of national, imperial, colonial, and international constellations.