Decolonization

by Raymond F. Betts

Published 28 May 1998

Raymond F. Betts considers the 'process' of decolonization and the outcomes which have left a legacy of problems, drawing on numerous examples including Ghana, India, Rwanda and Hong Kong. He examines:

  • the effects of the two World Wars on the colonial empire
  • the expectations and problems created by independence
  • the major demographic shifts accompanying the end of the empire
  • the cultural experiences, literary movements, and the search for ideology of the dying empire and the newly independent nations.

With an annotated bibliography and a chronology of political decolonization, Decolonization gives a concise, original and multi-disciplinary introduction to this controversial theme and analyzes what the future holds beyond the empire.