British Culture and the End of Empire - (Studies in Imperialism) by Stuart Ward (Paperback)

About the Book

This book is the first major attempt to examine the cultural manifestations of the demise of imperialism as a social and political ideology in post-war Britain. Far from being a matter of indifference or resigned acceptance as is often suggested, the fall of the British Empire came as a profound shock to the British national imagination, and resonated widely in British popular culture. The sheer range of subjects discussed, from the satire boom of the 1960s to the worlds of sport and the arts, demonstrates how profoundly decolonisation was absorbed into the popular consciousness. Offers an extremely novel and provocative interpretation of post-war British cultural history, and opens up a whole new field of enquiry in the history of decolonisation.

Book Synopsis

This book is the first major attempt to examine the cultural manifestations of the demise of imperialism as a social and political ideology in post-war Britain. Far from being a matter of indifference or resigned acceptance as is often suggested, the fall of the British Empire came as a profound shock to the British national imagination, and resonated widely in British popular culture. The sheer range of subjects discussed, from the satire boom of the 1960s to the worlds of sport and the arts, demonstrates how profoundly decolonisation was absorbed into the popular consciousness. Offers an extremely novel and provocative interpretation of post-war British cultural history, and opens up a whole new field of enquiry in the history of decolonisation.

Review Quotes

'This is a fine collection, which patiently unthreads one of the most persistent orthodoxies of British historiography - the belief that decolonisation was a process which happened only "overseas."' --Bill Schwarz, Goldsmiths' College, University of London

About the Author

Stuart Ward is Lecturer in History at the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, King's College London. He also holds a lectureship at the University of Southern Denmark