Part one : British decolonization. The British empire, 1918-1945 : interwar change and wartime pressures ; The first wave of British colonization : commonwealth territories, south Asia and the Gold Coast, 1945-1951 ; British decolonization, insurgency and strategic reverse : the Middle East, Africa and Malaya, 1951-1957
Part two : French decolonization. The roots of French decolonization : ideas, economics and reform, 1900-1946 ; Decolonizing the French African federations after 1945 ; People's war and the collapse of French Indochina, 1945-1954 ; From French North Africa to Maghreb independence : decolonization in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, 1945-1956 ; Algeria's violent struggle for independence ; Territories apart : Madagaskar, the Togo trusteeship and French island territories
Part three : Dutch decolonization. An 'ethical imperialism? : the Dutch colonial empire before 1945 ; Indonesia : the politics of delusion, 1940-1947 ; Indonesia : the realities of diplomacy ; Unfinished business : New Guinea as a last outpost of empire ; Decolonization by default : Dutch disengagement in Suriname
Part four : Contrasting patterns of decolonization : Belgian and Portuguese Africa.