The two decades that followed World War II witnessed the end of the great European empires in Asia and Africa. Robert Tignor's new study of the decolonization experiences of Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya elucidates the major factors that led to the transfer of power from British to African hands in these three territories.

Employing a comparative method in order to explain the different decolonizing narratives in each territory, he argues that the different state polices toward the private business sector and foreign capital were the result of nationalist policies and attitudes and the influence of Cold War pressures on local events.