In recent decades various books and numerous articles have examined the political evolution of Britain's colony of Hong Kong, as it moved closer towards reintegration with China in 1997. Several revived themes of the ‘last colony’ and the end of empire. H. A. Turner, in The Last Colony: But Whose?, whilst recognising that a number of British colonies remained, stressed that ‘Hong Kong is by far the most lustrous jewel of the once-Imperial Crown's otherwise residual adornments, and one whose economic light bid fair to outshine its nominal possessor's.’ Beyond Hong Kong, other enduring colonies were regarded as of no political or economic significance, distant and quaint relics of Britain's imperial past. Except when a crisis propelled them to the front page of daily newspapers, as happened when Argentina attacked the Falkland Islands in 1982, they were simply ignored. Whilst the actual political status of ‘colonies’ is subject to dispute, there remain a substantial number of distinct territories – not least Macao, just west of Hong Kong – that are far from being independent, sovereign states. Though the changing status of Hong Kong has intermittently focused attention on surviving outposts of the British empire, other developed nations – the United States, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Australia and New Zealand – also have distant territories that remain, in some way, politically dependent on the metropolitan power.