There has been renewed interest among scholars in the study of colonial encounters between Europe and the world it dominated and helped to shape. Tensions of Empire is an important and unique contribution to this rethinking of the colonial experience. A mixture of previously published papers and new work, the book consists of an introductory essay authored by the editors and thirteen chapters grouped in four parts. This structure gives the book an internal consistency that belies its nature as a collection of essays treating colonial experiences from Southeast Asia to South Africa and the resonance of colonial engagements within the geographic space of the metropolitan powers.