White Supremacy

Author: John Broich

General & world history | European history | History of the Americas | Colonialism & imperialism | Slavery & abolition of slavery | Western philosophy: Enlightenment | History of ideas | Social discrimination & inequality | Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies | Fascism & Nazism

Published on 19^th March 2026 by Cambridge University Press in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 280 pages, Worked examples or Exercises; 30 Halftones, black and white
149mm x 224mm x 23mm | 490g

When did whiteness begin? Was its rise inevitable? 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. 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. Far from being the natural order of things, Broich demonstrates that white supremacy is a brittle concept. For centuries, it has been constantly shifting, rebranding, and justifying itself in the face of resistance. The oft-repeated excuse that its architects were simply “men of their time” collapses under scrutiny. With brutal honesty, Broich exposes the lies embedded in the grim biography of an invented race. White Supremacy calls for a deeper understanding of the past, that we might undo its grip on the present.