Within twenty years of victory in the Second World War Britain had ceased to be a world power and her global empire has dissolved into fragments. With what now seems astonishing rapidity, and empire three centuries old, which had reached its greatest extent as late as 1921, was transformed into more than fifty sovereign states. Why did this great transformation come about? Had Britain simply become too weak in a world of superpowers? Had the pressure of colonial nationalism suddenly become overwhelming? Or had the British themselves decided that they no longer needed an empire, and that interests were better served by joining the rich man′s club of Europe? In this short book, these and other theories are examined critically. The aim is not to present a detailed narrative of Britain′s imperial retreat but to introduce the reader to the current state of debate in a rapidly expanding subject.
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Within twenty years of victory in the Second World War Britain had ceased to be a world power and her global empire has dissolved into fragments. With what now seems astonishing rapidity, and empire three centuries old, which had reached its greatest extent as late as 1921, was transformed into more than fifty sovereign states. Why did this great transformation come about? Had Britain simply become too weak in a world of superpowers? Had the pressure of colonial nationalism suddenly become overwhelming? Or had the British themselves decided that they no longer needed an empire, and that interests were better served by joining the rich man′s club of Europe? In this short book, these and other theories are examined critically. The aim is not to present a detailed narrative of Britain′s imperial retreat but to introduce the reader to the current state of debate in a rapidly expanding subject.
About the Author
John Darwin is a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and Beit Lecturer in the History of the British Commonwealth. He is the author of Britain, Egypt and the Middle East (1981) and Britain and Decolonisation: the Retreat from Empire in the post–war World (1988), and is currently preparing a study of British imperial decline since 1900.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very succint, informative and thought provoking view of the decolonisation of the British Empire. An excellent introduction to the subject for the discerning historian
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
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Great look at the debates of Empire
4 Nov 2007
By Lehigh History Student
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book provides an excellent brief overview to the historiography of the fall of the British Empire. It looks at the fall from a variety of angles and provides a nice conclusion that reminds readers that no one historiography is correct and that all must be taken together. The first calls for the argument that the British metropole tired of empire and popular opinion went against it. This derives from the Hughes and Cain argument of the gentlemanly class but takes a different viewpoint on it and while useful is probably the weakest of the bunch provided. The second course looked at is the economic course which is a compelling argument that shows that empire was not a profitable way to organize in the post 1945 period and the British abandoned the project. The third argument centers on the emerging bipolar world system which argues that the superpowers made Empire obsolete. A useful subset of this historiography is the fact that both the United States and USSR are anti-imperialist which works against British designs. On this note the last historiography considered is the one that focuses on the colonial localities and their emerging nationalism. The argument here is that too many authors focus on their specific country and lose sight of the bigger picture. This does provide an excellent look overall at the idea of how the empire fell apart and is a must read.
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