BTW I'm not a hardline Imperialist, but I do sometimes wish we had reformed the Empire sooner, given every citizen the vote, had a centralised government and bureaucracy with proper representation, and left the world with a stable polity of English (and other) speaking peoples that spanned the globe.

It may not surprise you that I've been tinkering with an alternative history novel with an Indian prince as a James Bond type figure in a different swinging London. Maybe too many shades of Jerry Cornelius; but I want airships, dammit.