Working forward from the later seventeenth century, contributors to this volume explore the 'deep history' of the changing and competing understandings within the Tory party of the role Britain has aspired to play on a world stage. With a supporting cast from Pitt to Disraeli, Churchill to Thatcher, the book provides a fascinating insight into the influence of history over politics, and seeks to understand how the Tory party has sought to navigate its way through the difficult pathways of foreign and imperial politics.