Mad Dogs and Englishmen: A Grand Tour of the British Empire at its Height 1850-1945, by Ashley Jackson. London: Quercus, 2009. 237 pp. ISBN 978-1-84724 607-3. £20

Abstract

Mad Dogs and Englishmen: A Grand Tour of the British Empire at its Height 1850-1945, by Ashley Jackson. London: Quercus, 2009. 237 pp. ISBN 978-184724 607-3. £20 If one picture is worth even a dozen words, this volume is weighty and decisive contribution to the ongoing debate between Professors John MacKenzie and Bernard Porter on the impact and influence of Empire on the British psyche and public consciousness1. This book is aimed for a popular readership, although an academic one could also read it with profit, and Jackson does not address the debate directly but the profusion of imperial and colonial imagery speaks for itself. The opening words set out the theme and bill of fare. MAD DOGS AND ENGLISH MEN takes as its inspiration the vivid representations of the British Empire conveyed by a wide range of media throughout its 'high noon' in the 19th and 20th centuries. The power of imperial imagery and ideas was immense, reverberating around the globe and defining the way in which millions of people viewed themselves and the world. No nation or international organization could lay claim to such widespread influence or such all-pervasive iconography as the British Empire. Illustrations, many in colour, take up over half the book. They come from a great range of sources: advertising, popular literature, missionary tracts, stamps, cigarette cards, postcards and other collectables, biscuit tins, jigsaws and board games. Many come from Ashley Jackson's own collection of memorabilia. The book is arranged thematically with chapters on maps, atlases and surveys; missionaries and humanitarians; explorers; the monarchy and native potentates; the military; routes and ports; architecture and engineering; sports and safaris; music and popular culture; public schools, Masonic lodges and clubs; produce and marketing. Dr Jackson, a Senior Lecturer at King's College London and author of several books on maritime and military aspects of Empire, with a major new book on Churchill in the pipeline, wears his learning lightly. There are no footnotes although there is a good bibliography, a useful index and unobtrusive lists of acknowledgements and sources. Actually, I regretted the lack of footnotes as there were many times when I wished to trace a quotation (such as the reminiscences on pp. 186 ff2) to its source. It is evident from the text, as well as from the bibliography, that Dr Jackson is well acquainted with the latest scholarship particularly that published in the Manchester University Press Studies in Imperialism series. His style is lively and colloquial, with flashes of wit. An analogy I particularly relished comes on p. 11: "The British had the biggest beach-towel by far, and the sight of it, draped over every continent and peninsula around the world, drove the Germans and the other colonial also-rans to distraction." But the book is underpinned by sound scholarship and is ideal for a sixth-former or undergraduate in need of an introductory text. The chapter on the expansion of the Empire is a model of clarity that gives the dates and explains the terminology (sorting out dominions, colonies, mandates etc) in an easily digestible form. …