Empire on Edge
The British Struggle for Order in Belize during Yucatan's Caste War, 1847–1901

Reveals how British officials attempted to understand and impose order on northern Belize during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Rajeshwari Dutt (Author)

9781108493420, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 March 2020

198 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1.7 cm, 0.42 kg

'Empire on Edge is overall a necessary and insightful contribution to scholarship on British imperial interventions in Latin America, particularly in Belize, given its exceptional status as both a Caribbean and Central American nation.' Marisa Palacios Knox, Victorian Studies

How does empire operate in frontiers and borderlands during times of conflict? Empire on Edge reveals how British officials attempted, during the second half of the nineteenth century, to understand and impose order on northern Belize, an area that was both a frontier of colonial power and the locus of a disputed border with Mexico. Their efforts were complicated by the local ramifications of Yucatán's Caste War (1847–1901), a long-lasting, violent struggle between segments of the indigenous Maya in southeast Mexico and the Mexican state. The book also illuminates how people who were subject to these efforts, especially the Hispanic and various Maya groups, sought to thwart them by building alliances across seemingly firm lines of racial and ethnic division. Along the way, important questions are raised about the dissonance between colonial and imperial projects, the nature of frontiers and borderlands, and the local effects of disputes between bordering countries.

Introduction
1. Business as usual
2. Ungoverned passions
3. Costs of protection
4. Uneasy alliances
5. The enemy within
6. Loyal subjects
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions [HBTV], Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History of the Americas [HBJK]