After the Second World War, new international rules heralded an age of human rights and self-determination. Supported by Britain, these unprecedented changes sought to end the scourge of colonialism. But how committed was Britain? In the 1960s, its colonial instinct ignited once more: a secret decision was taken to offer the US a base at Diego Garcia, one of the islands of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, create a new colony (the 'British Indian Ocean Territory') and deport the entire local population. One of those inhabitants was Liseby Elyse, twenty years old, newly married, expecting her first child. One suitcase, no pets, the British ordered, expelling her from the only home she had ever known. For four decades the government of Mauritius fought for the return of Chagos, and the past decade Philippe Sands has been intimately involved in the cases. In 2018 Chagos and colonialism finally reached the World Court in The Hague. As Mauritius and the entire African continent challenged British and American lawlessness, fourteen international judges faced a landmark decision: would they rule that Britain illegally detached Chagos from Mauritius? Would they open the door to Liseby Elyse and her fellow Chagossians returning home - or exile them forever? Taking us on a disturbing journey across international law, THE LAST COLONY illuminates the continuing horrors of colonial rule, the devastating impact of Britain's racist grip on its last colony in Africa, and the struggle for justice in the face of a crime against humanity. It is a tale about the making of modern international law and one woman's fight for justice, a courtroom drama and a personal journey that ends with a historic ruling.

Ever since the Romans, 'Empire' has been a word of power to rulers and theorists of statecraft. It implied much more than 'rule' or 'kingdom': those states which could pretend to the title of Empire thereby compared themselves with Rome, and implied that they were its successors. Professor Koebner's widely ranging book examines the use of the concept in European history from classical times until the early nineteenth century. He begins with the Romans, and analyses the original meanings of the word imperium. He then turns to later uses, in the Holy Roman Empire founded by Charlemagne, and its successors. The main part of the book considers the British Empire, from its uncertain foundation under Henry VIII to the secession of the American colonies - an event which caused a re-examination of the whole nature of the Empire. A final chapter considers the Napoleonic period.