A challenging analysis of British Foreign Policy is provided at a time when Britain possessed the biggest Empire that humankind has ever known. In this Empire India had a unique position, comprising 97 per cent of Britain's Asiatic Empire. All British statesmen deemed it essential to maintain their hold over India whatever the risk or cost of doing so. Historians writing on British Foreign Policy have tended to focus on European relations, without imparting much sense of what it meant for Britain to be the centre of a global Empire. In contrast, by highlighting the links between Britain's Imperial experience and foreign policy, this work focuses on aspects that have been hitherto marginalized. It also contributes to debates surrounding the origins of the First World War, the multipolar diplomacy of the late nineteenth century, and the nature of imperial connections. Students and historians studying British Foreign Policy, Anglo-Indian relations, international relations, diplomatic and imperial history and strategic history will find this a valuable and thought-provoking work.