This work investigates the historical construction of the white identity and its role in the formation of the modern British imperial consciousness. Bill Schwarz, a scholar of cultural history and postcolonial studies, utilizes a combination of archival research, political theory, and cultural analysis to examine how the concept of 'whiteness' was exported and maintained across the British Empire. The book argues that the internal psychological and social structures of the metropole were fundamentally shaped by the experience of colonial dominance.

Scholars in the field of postcolonial studies frequently cite this text for its rigorous examination of the internal logic of imperial identity. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which requires a foundational understanding of historical and sociological theory to fully engage with the author's arguments.