Book review : The ends of empire : the last colonies revisited [Oostindie]

Abstract

In 1998, Robert Aldrich and John Connell published their much-praised book, The last colonies, the first book-length comparative discussion of the world’s remaining non-sovereign jurisdictions, legacies of a past age of formal colonialism. At that time, these territories’ choice against full sovereignty might have been counterintuitive to those who still expected all former colonies to opt for full independence at some stage. The book made it abundantly clear why these ‘confetti of empire’ scattered across the globe had very good reasons to shy away from parting with their metropolitan states, and why the latter were accepting this, whether enthusiastic or not. Aldrich and Connell cautiously predicted that this status quo was not likely to change anytime soon. [excerpt]