In Defence of British India
(1984) illustrates the problems arising from the British need to defend an Indian empire against the fluctuations in the European balance of power, preferably by isolating the empire from the European political system. The strategies devised by Britain to forestall and later to counter the expansion of European empires into the Middle East are known as the Great Game, which began in 1798 in response to the French invasion of Egypt. Later, the British planned an offensive in the Middle East itself as a means by which to defend their Indian empire.