Publisher's Synopsis
This is a full scholarly study of British anticolonialism. British anticolonialism was an offshoot of a massive global upsurge of sentiment which has dominated much of the history of this century. In this wide-ranging book, Stephen Howe evaluates the changing ways in which, arising out of the experience of Empire and decolonization, more general ideas about imperialism, nationalism, and underdevelopment were developed during these years. He also surveys the attitudes and activities relating to colonial issues of British critics of Empire during the years of decolonization. His discussion encompasses both the left wing of the Labour Party and groups outside it: in the Communist Party, other independent left-wing groups, and single-issue campaigns. The book has contemporary relevance, for British reactions to more recent events - the Falklands and Gulf Wars, race relations, South African apartheid - cannot fully be understood except in the context of the experience of decolonization and the legacy of Empire.
