Once, just over a century ago, the world revolved around London while the sun never set on Queen Victoria’s empire. Throughout her reign, the British played “The Great Game” seeking world domination.  By means fair, and more often, foul they scrimmaged across the globe confronting the Russian Bear, the American Eagle, the inscrutable Chinese, and such death-wielding opponents as Afghanistan insurgents, Zulu warriors, and South African Boers.  The class offers a four-lecture exploration of the profits and perils of the nineteenth century’s only superpower.