Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

As a young man, Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843 1911), the Cambridge-educated Radical politician who went on to campaign for votes for women and labourers, legalisation of trade unions, and universal schooling, spent two years touring the English-speaking world. This two-volume illustrated account of his journey was published in 1868, the year in which he first entered Parliament. Volume 1 describes his travels across the United States, where he arrived aboard The Saratoga, landing at Chesapeake Bay in Virginia on 20 June 1866. Dilke explored the reconstructing American South, the bustling eastern seaboard, the vast plains of the Midwest, the magnificent Rocky Mountain range, and the diverse landscape and peoples of California before venturing south into Mexico and departing for Polynesia and the Pacific islands. He thoughtfully discusses the legacy of British colonial culture in America, and its continuing diffusion via America to other parts of the world.

As a young man, Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843 1911), the Cambridge-educated Radical politician, spent two years touring the English-speaking world. This two-volume illustrated account of his travels was published in 1868, the year in which he first became a member of Parliament. Volume 2 opens as he leaves America in late 1866 for Australia and South Asia in search of British influences. This second leg of his journey confirmed for Dilke that England not only existed elsewhere beyond Great Britain, but that it spoke to the whole world through its cultural and societal offshoots across the entire globe. His discoveries of traditional English customs and lifestyles in the farther reaches of Australia, India and even Russia are recounted with pleasure and surprise. The book sheds light on British colonial culture at the height of the empire, through the eyes of a youthful, left-wing observer.

The liberal Radical MP Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843 1911) campaigned for (among many other causes) votes for women and labourers, legalisation of trade unions, and universal education. His republican sentiments damaged his political reputation, and earned him the hostility of Queen Victoria. However, despite his views on the monarchy he was an imperialist, and his early work, Greater Britain (1868; also available in this series), was widely read. In the 1890s he became known as a parliamentary expert on military, colonial and foreign affairs. This 1892 work, co-written with Spenser Wilkinson (1853 1937), a journalist and military historian, together with Dilke's earlier work, Problems of Greater Britain, led to the founding of a parliamentary committee on imperial defence. The book argues that, while hoping to avert war by diplomacy, the Government has a duty to maintain a naval and military force to protect the interests of its citizens.

C. Wentworth Dilke (1810 69), an influential figure at the Society of Arts, was one of the key organisers of the Great Exhibition of 1851. He played a leading part in planning the event and the catalogue, overseeing the installation of exhibits and managing the PR. The exhibition generated an enormous number of publications, official and unofficial, both in Britain and abroad, ranging from vistors' guides to London and descriptions of individual exhibits to discussions about the long-term future of the Crystal Palace, together with essays, sermons and poems. Dilke acquired several hundred such books and pamphlets, in various languages, and in 1855 privately published this catalogue of his collection, noting that it omits 'mere trade pamphlets' and that his 'departments' of relevant music and engravings are not comprehensive. Alphabetically organised and thoroughly cross-referenced, Dilke's catalogue remains an invaluable research resource for those studying the Great Exhibition and its global impact.