When did whiteness begin?

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Was its rise inevitable?

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In this powerful history, John Broich traces the emergence, evolution and contradictions of white supremacy, from its roots in the British empire, to the racial politics of the present.

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Focussing on the English-speaking world, he examines how ideas of whiteness connect to the history of slavery, Enlightenment thought, European colonialism, Social Darwinism and eugenics, fascism and capitalism.

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Far from being the natural order of things, Broich demonstrates that white supremacy is a brittle concept.

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For centuries, it has been constantly shifting, rebranding, and justifying itself in the face of resistance.

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The oft-repeated excuse that its architects were simply "men of their time" collapses under scrutiny.

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With brutal honesty, Broich exposes the lies embedded in the grim biography of an invented race.