Includes bibliographical references (pages 240-255) and index.

Introduction: "Seeing Like a (Colonial) State" -- The Transfer of Britain's Imperial Capital : "A Bold Stroke of Statesmanship" -- New Delhi's New Vision for a New Raj : An "Altar of Humanity" -- Colonial Finance and the Building of New Delhi : The High Cost of Reform -- Competing Visions of Empire in the Colonial Built Environment -- Hardinge's Imperial Delhi Committee and His Architectural Board : The Perfect Building Establishment for the Perfect Colonial Capital -- The Cultural Politics of Colonial Space : "A New Jewel in an Old Setting" -- Land Acquisition, Landlessness, and the Building of New Delhi -- The Inauguration of New Delhi, 1931 : A British Empire for the Twentieth Century.

"In New Delhi : The Last Imperial City, Johnson provides an historically rich examination of the intersection of early twentieth-century imperial culture, imperial politics, and imperial economics as reflected in the colonial built environment at New Delhi, a remarkably ambitious imperial capital built by the British between 1911 and 1931. India's changed political conditions, exacerbated by previous colonial policies like the partition of Bengal, demanded a new approach to an India which was undergoing tremendous political, social, and economic transformations caused by its long interactions with Britain. At this critical moment and as the pre-eminent symbol of British imperial rule in India, New Delhi crucially displayed a double narrative of promised liberation and continued colonial dependence. This message, rich in ambiguity, created tension between a government intent on satisfying Indian demands for political reform with its equally important need to maintain absolute authority. Britain's last imperial capital in South Asia represented a new model of imperial hegemony based not simply on coercion but on Indian consent to further colonial rule"-- Provided by publisher.