Denis Judd was born in Northamptonshire in 1938 and educated in a village primary school before passing the `Eleven Plus' and entering the local grammar school. He won a State Scholarship, took his first degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford, and his Ph.D. at London University, on: `A. J. Balfour and the evolution and problems of the British Empire 1874-1906. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

He has been Head of History, and is now Professor of Imperial and Commonwealth History, at the University of North London, now re-designated as London Metropolitan University. In his research, writing and broadcasting he has specialised in the British Empire and Commonwealth, especially South Africa and India. He has also written extensively on British history, on aspects of the monarchy, and among his biographies is the authorised life of the children's author Alison Uttley.

Among his publications are BALFOUR AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE, RADICAL JOE - A LIFE OF JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, THE VICTORIAN EMPIRE, PALMERSTON, LORD READING, EDWARD VII, THE CRIMEAN WAR, SOMEONE HAS BLUNDERED: CALAMITIES OF THE BRITISH ARMY DURING THE VICTORIAN AGE, THE BRITISH RAJ, KING GEORGE V, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, PRINCE PHILIP, GEORGE VI, and, with Peter Slinn, THE EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN COMMONWEALTH, 1902-80. His major analysis of British Imperialism, EMPIRE: THE BRITISH IMPERIAL EXPERIENCE FROM 1765 TO THE PRESENT was published in March 1996 by HarperCollins, was a major bookclub choice, has now appeared in Fontana paperback and United States' hardback and paperback editions, and has been translated.

He has written a number of other historical studies and biographies, as well as stories for children and two novels: FURTHER TALES OF LITTLE GREY RABBIT (1989 HarperCollins), LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA (Wayland), THE ADVENTURE OF LONG JOHN SILVER and RETURN TO TREASURE ISLAND (both Michael Joseph).

He has written radio documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, and has broadcast many times both as a presenter, consultant and major interviewee for television and radio programmes: most recently for BBC TV `Newsnight', BBC Radio 3 `Nightwaves', for BBC Radio 4's `Vestiges - the British Empire' and `The Afternoon Shift', for the World Service, for BBC Radio Scotland, for Canadian Radio, for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and for a considerable number of television programmes shown on the BBC, ITV and Canadian and South African TV.

He is the editor of a series of concise histories - the Traveller's Histories - which include: FRANCE, ITALY, SPAIN, GREECE, RUSSIA, INDIA, TURKEY, IRELAND, AUSTRALIA, NORTH AFRICA and CHINA. He is an Advisor to the recently established BBC History Magazine for which he writes and reviews.

He has reviewed extensively in academic journals- e.g. History, The Journal of Contemporary British History, South Asia and the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History - and the national press, including Times Literary Supplement, Guardian, New Statesman, Literary Review, Sunday Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent and Daily Telegraph.

He has contributed many articles and features to various publications - including the International Herald Tribune and the part-works A History of the English-Speaking Peoples and The British Empire, and to History Today, The Mail on Sunday, BBC History Magazine, Sunday Telegraph, New Statesman, New Society, Financial Times.

A considerable number of his books have been published in the United States. Among the languages into which some of his work has been translated are: Dutch, French, Italian, Greek, Czech, Swedish, Finnish and Bulgarian.

He has recently been appointed a Visiting Professor to the University of California at their newly established London Campus.

His book on THE BRITISH RAJ will be published during 2003 by Oxford University Press. He is currently researching into the long term impact of the British Empire, and into the post-imperial and post-cold war world we now inhabit.

The British experience with India began in earnest over four hundred years ago, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. For many years the English interlopers and traders who made contact with the subcontinent were viewed by Indians as little more than pirates and potentially troublesome, conquering barbarians. After a series of titanic struggles against the French and various local rulers during the eighteenth century, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars Britain had gained mastery of the subcontinent.

Professor Denis Judd tells the fascinating story of the remarkable British impact upon India, capturing the essence of what the Raj really meant both for the British and their Indian subjects. All aspects of this long and controversial relationship are discussed such as the first tentative contacts between East and West, the foundation of the East India Company in 1600, the Victorian Raj in all its pomp and splendour, Gandhi's revolutionary tactics to overthrow the Raj and restore India to the Indians, and Lord Mountbatten's 'swift surgery of partition' in 1947, creating the two independent Commonwealth states of India and Pakistan.

Against this epic backdrop, and using many revealing contemporary accounts, Denis Judd explores the consequences of British rule for both rulers and ruled. Were the British intent on development or exploitation? Were they the 'civilizing' force they claimed? What were Britain's greatest legacies - democracy and the rule of law, or cricket and an efficient railway system?

Easy answers are avoided, and difficult questions tackled in this immensely readable, lively and authoritative book.