The third of the Georgian kings, George III would preside over the largest expansion of the British Empire to that date and also its biggest setback. He was actually the grandson of George II as his father Frederick Louis had predeceased his own father.

He was about to profit from the successfully run Seven Years War (1756 - 1763) that saw the British take on and beat the mighty French in what was virtually a world war. The British were only able to defeat the French thanks to the modern banking and financing system that allowed the British to fund a war against its larger foes.

The British were to profit from that war with a huge American Empire and a substantial foothold in India. Although there was still to be disatisfaction in Britain due to what many regarded as the undue leniency to their defeated foes. Still, naval bases began springing up all over the globe to help the British supply their American and Indian empires.

The American settlers were not to understand the subtleties of modern financing and were to resent the imposition of taxes designed to repay the loans taken out to fight the French in Canada and around the world. The settlers were particularly keen to avoid paying tax now that the French threat had been removed completely. They were also to be aggravated by the George's determination to halt settler intrusion into Indian lands across the Appalachian mountains. It was considered that these settlers were provoking unnecessary wars with the Indians that had to be paid for.

Incompetent prime ministers were to combine with the King's intransigence to turn resistance to taxation into all out revolution. The Spanish and French were only too eager to join in with Britain's woes and backed the Revolutionaries. The fighting ranged far and wide as the French and Spanish raided and captured British bases around the world. The British were ultimately forced into a humiliating defeat with the recognition of the United States and the loss of many smaller territories around the world. Imperialism was to take a back seat as a result of this setback - although the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars would provide an opportunity to regain much of what they had lost to the French and the Spanish at least.

George was to suffer increasingly from mental illness. From 1811 until 1820 his son ruled on his behalf as Regent.

George III was to rule for over half a century and was to preside over huge changes in British society as the Industrial Revolution intensified. Despite the setback of the American Revolution, Britain was to recover its influence and respect with victory in the Napoleonic Wars and was about to enter into a golden age of development.