Colonial Issues In British Politics 1945-1961: From 'Colonial Development' To 'Wind Of Change'
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
In the turbulent decades following the Second World War, the British Empire stood at a crossroads, and David Goldsworthy's Colonial Issues in British Politics 1945–1961 chronicles the fierce parliamentary and ideological battles that shaped Britain's retreat from empire. Spanning the pivotal period from the optimistic post-war rhetoric of 'Colonial Development' to Harold Macmillan's seismic 'Wind of Change' speech, the work presents a meticulous account of how colonial policy was debated, contested, and ultimately transformed within the corridors of Westminster. Goldsworthy draws on a rich body of primary sources to map the shifting alliances between Conservative and Labour politicians, illustrating how imperial decline was as much a story of domestic political calculation as it was of nationalist movements abroad. A landmark work in the historiography of British decolonisation, this study argues that colonial affairs were far from a peripheral concern in post-war British politics — they were, in fact, a crucible in which questions of national identity, economic survival, and moral authority were relentlessly forged. Goldsworthy's prose is precise and authoritative, bringing scholarly rigour to a subject that resonates far beyond its historical moment. For anyone seeking to understand how one of history's greatest empires unravelled through the machinery of democratic politics, this volume poses a question that lingers long after the final page: was Britain's end of empire a triumph of pragmatism, or a failure of conviction?
Author: David Goldsworthy
Format: Hardback
Published: 1971, Oxford at the Clarendon Press
Genre: Politics & law
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
In the turbulent decades following the Second World War, the British Empire stood at a crossroads, and David Goldsworthy's Colonial Issues in British Politics 1945–1961 chronicles the fierce parliamentary and ideological battles that shaped Britain's retreat from empire. Spanning the pivotal period from the optimistic post-war rhetoric of 'Colonial Development' to Harold Macmillan's seismic 'Wind of Change' speech, the work presents a meticulous account of how colonial policy was debated, contested, and ultimately transformed within the corridors of Westminster. Goldsworthy draws on a rich body of primary sources to map the shifting alliances between Conservative and Labour politicians, illustrating how imperial decline was as much a story of domestic political calculation as it was of nationalist movements abroad. A landmark work in the historiography of British decolonisation, this study argues that colonial affairs were far from a peripheral concern in post-war British politics — they were, in fact, a crucible in which questions of national identity, economic survival, and moral authority were relentlessly forged. Goldsworthy's prose is precise and authoritative, bringing scholarly rigour to a subject that resonates far beyond its historical moment. For anyone seeking to understand how one of history's greatest empires unravelled through the machinery of democratic politics, this volume poses a question that lingers long after the final page: was Britain's end of empire a triumph of pragmatism, or a failure of conviction?