The Last Imperialist

Sir Alan Burns was the most prominent defender of the British empire in its final stages. The Last Imperialist: Sir Alan Burns' Epic Defense of the British Empires studies Burns' career and his arguments in defense of European colonialism. Bruce Gilley describes Burns' intellectual and policy battles with opponents of colonialism and his efforts to slow the decolonization process. The Last Imperialist takes readers through Burns' critical roles in World War I, the economic development of British Honduras (contemporary Belize), the forging of the Anglo-American alliance in World War II, and the political development of the Gold Coast (contemporary Ghana). The Last Imperialist closes with an examination of Burns' final contributions to colonial affairs in the 1960s and 1970s, a time when his worst predictions had been vindicated. A revisionist history of European colonialism, The Last Imperialist analyzes anti-colonial arguments in the context of the colonial encounter as seen through the life and works of Sir Alan Burns.