In the middle and later decades of the twentieth century the great western colonial empires in Asia and Africa finally came to an end. That constituted one of the major developments in the history of the world in the twentieth century, and in quite countless ways has reshaped the world in which we live. It played a major part in establishing a quite new international system. It led to the creation of a large number of new orders in which the greater part of humanity now lives. Whereas during the first half of the twentieth century half a dozen or so western empires had dominated large parts of the globe, these now came to be replaced by 100 or so newly independent states, each with many of its own distinctive characteristics. That is a huge change in circumstance.

This volume brings together a number of previously dispersed attempts to grapple with some of the large number of issues which arise. The rise and fall of empires has long provoked a great deal of interest, and a number of far-flung comparisons could readily be offered. But for the most part the chapters which follow do not deal with these. There is nothing about the end of the Roman, the Carolingian, the Inca, the Ming, the Spanish, the Ottoman or the Soviet empires. The concern is principally, though not exclusively, with the passing of the British Empire in South Asia and in Africa.