Empire, Race and the Politics of Anti-Caste - by Caroline Bressey (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Women's History Network Prize 2014
Winner of the Robert and Vineta Colby Scholarly Book Prize 2015

Empire, Race and the Politics of Anti-Caste provides the first comprehensive biography of Catherine Impey and her radical political magazine, Anti-Caste. Published monthly from 1888, Anti-Caste published articles that exposed and condemned racial prejudice across the British Empire and the United States. Editing the magazine from her home in Street, Somerset, Impey welcomed African and Asian activists and made Street an important stop on the political tour for numerous foreign guests, reorienting geographies of political activism that usually locate anti-racist politics within urban areas.

The production of Anti-Caste marks an important moment in early progressive politics in Britain and, using a wealth of archival sources, this book offers a thorough exploration both of the publication and its founder for those interested in imperial history and the history of women.

Review Quotes

The richness of material which Bressey brings to the life of Impey and Anti-Caste is impossible to convey within the confines of a book review ... Stylistically, Bressey's voice is both accessible and commanding of her subject ... It comes as no surprise to learn that, since the book's publication, Bressey has received awards in recognition of her scholarship ... [The book is a] vital and necessary piece of historical research.
Journal of Historical Geography

About the Author

Caroline Bressey is Lecturer in Human Geography at University College London, UK.