Muriel Chamberlain is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Wales, Swansea. She is currently the editor of The Historian, the journal of the Historical Association and is an Associate Editor of The New Dictionary of National Biography. Her previous publications include Lord Aberdeen: a Political Biography (1983), Lord Palmerston (1987), Pax Britannica: British Foreign Policy, 1789-1914 (1988) and The Scramble for Africa (second edition 1999). She is also joint editor of an English edition of Friedrich Fabri’s Does Germany Need Colonies? (Ed. with Breuning, 1998).

"I do find Chamberlain a very good introductory book to the subject of decolonization. It is just right for American freshmen. It is very well organised." William Cohen, Indiana

• Outline Chronology. Maps.Introduction.Part I: The Background:.1. First Colonial Responses.Part II: The British Empire: Asia:.2. India.3. Ceylon, Burma and Malaya.Part III: The British Empire: Africa:.4. Ghana.5. Nigeria.6. Sierra Leone and The Gambia.7. East Africa (Uganda, Tankanyika and Zanzibar).8. Kenya.9. South Central Africa (the Rhodesias and Nyasaland).Part IV: The British Empire: Outposts: .10. The Caribbean.11. The Mediterranean.12. The 'Daughters'.Part V: The Commonwealth:.Part VI: The French Empire: .13. North Africa.14. Black Africa and Madagascar.15. Indochina.Part VII: The Empires of the Smaller European Powers: .16. The Dutch Empire.17. The Belgian Empire.18. The Italian Empire.19. The Spanish Empire.20. The Portuguese Empire.21. The Russian Empire.Conclusion.Guide to Further Reading.References.Index.