Sketches the trajectory of the British Empire 1550-1950, at times suggesting the economic, cultural, and political benefits outweigh the unintended consequences, more often lamenting illogical ideology or failure to impart democracy. The principal mechanisms of transferring goods, capital, labor, and Western civics were language, land tenure, banking, common law, Protestantism, team sports, the ‘night watchman’ state, representative assemblies, and political liberty – the last the most distinct from Continental tradition. British imperialism originated in pirating Spanish shipping. The Glorious Revolution imported Dutch banking acumen: surpassing France in North America and India depended on credit. Immigration, which began with the Cromwellian settlement in Ireland, turned on indentured servitude, which accounted for over half of newcomers to North American over 1650-1780 (not forgetting more moved to the West Indies). In the Victorian era, the ‘subtext’ of the Canadian Durham report regretted liberty had not been sooner extended; the abolition of slavery was notable because it was still profitable; evangelicalism was remarkable for its admixture with economic and political ends, and was ultimately seen as subversive especially in India. Education provided unprecedented civil opportunities on the subcontinent. However, the ‘White Mutiny’, which asserted the right to jury trial by one’s own race, exposed prejudice that launched Indian nationalism, fueled not by poverty of masses but alienation of the privileged. In Africa, trading monopolies often converted to protectorates. Imperial Britain spent only 2.5% of its GDP on defense; over 1870-1914 the terms of trade appreciated 10%, bolstered by shipping and insurance revenue, enabling more imports to the UK. Empire was a source of pride; however, the Boer War made the public uneasy, World War I profoundly doubtful of the value of international power. By the end of World War II, as rival economies undermined Britain’s economic advantages and her balance of payments turned negative, political commitment evaporated and the Empire was ‘for sale’ – save that it was liquidated by US-led internationalism, exemplified by Suez. Despite the rising living standard of Victorian England, the principal beneficiaries of Empire were ultimately emigrants to the White Dominions, where team games fostered ‘greater Britain’. The source of Empire’s redemption lies not in political economy, however, but comparison with European rivals which made no attempt to impart liberty: Britain’s failure reveals its goodwill. Normatively, British imperialism fared best in the wastelands of Virginia and New England and least well in urban India, where the temptation to plunder superseded the impulse to build and transfer. The back-and-forth of Ferguson’s account founders on the reality that civic projects are steered less by countries, centuries at a time, but individuals whose concerns are often competing and changing. Criticizing a country’s intent often slips into hindsight.