These volumes emerged from a research project based in the Department of History, National University of Singapore, with which they also share a title. The investigators, editors, authors, and project members note with gratitude the support provided by the Singapore Ministry of Education through a research grant from the MOE Academic Research Fund, Tier 2, without which this work would not have been possible. Grateful thanks also to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, as well as the Department, for understanding and support. Claire Lipscomb and Emma Goode from Bloomsbury were more patient than we deserved and very supportive, for which our thanks. Among the authors, special mention must go to Thomas Dubois for doing so much to launch the entire project in the first place. Miriam Kaminishi and Ishizu Tomoyuki made timely and welcome contributions to the project as a whole. Most welcome and effective research assistance was provided by Michelle Djong, Daniel Lee, Aloysius Ng, Sandeep Singh, Amelia Tan, Wilfred Teo, and Jennifer Yip. Last but not least, the many students who over the years have taken our course HY2245 History of Empires, Colonies and Imperialism have our gratitude for inspiring the whole idea in the first place.