An interdisciplinary interrogation of the concept of British ‘informal empire’ in Latin America. Builds upon recent advances in the historiography of imperialism and studies of the nineteenth-century modern world, most obviously the work of Ann Stoler, Catherine Hall and C.A. BaylyCombines a comparative perspective with the juxtaposition of political economy, cultural history, gendered and postcolonial approachesBy proposing and debating alternative explanatory models, the book breathes new life into the flagging concept of ‘informal empire’Illuminates the study of British imperialism, from which Latin America is usually conspicuous only by its absence, and provides a broad and sound basis for interpreting the complex processes of nation-building and state-formation in Latin AmericaIncludes essays by scholars who have been shaping the debate for several decades, alongside work by a younger generation of researchers keen to re-conceptualise and re-assess the roles of commerce and culture in shaping informal empire