The lecture shares perspectives from global history, comparative politics, and international relations to revaluate whether the twentieth-century collapse of European colonialism was as definitive as often portrayed. It suggests that, while in some ways, ending European Empires remade our contemporary world, in others processes of decolonization are far from complete.

This lecture was recorded by Martin Thomas on the 9th of April 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London

Martin is Professor of Imperial History and Director of the Centre for Histories of Violence and Conflict at the University of Exeter.

He was awarded a Philip Leverhulme prize for outstanding research in 2002 and has been both a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow and a fellow of the Independent Social Research Foundation. He has also held visiting fellowships at Sciences Po., Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies in Amsterdam.

He is the author of twelve books on various aspects of decolonization, French foreign and colonial policy, colonial security services, violence and colonialism. His most recent book is The End of Empires and a World Remade: A Global History of Decolonization (Princeton University Press, 2024).

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/world-decolonization

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