TITLE: The End of European Colonial Empires
SPEAKER: William Roger Louis
EVENT DATE: 07/10/2007
FORMAT: Video + Captions
RUNNING TIME: 73 minutes
TRANSCRIPT: View Transcript (link will open in a new window)
DESCRIPTION:
One of the great themes of 20th century history is the end of European colonial empires. William Roger Louis, founding director of the National History Center, discussed the topic in a lecture sponsored by the Library's John W. Kluge Center and the National History Center, and was presented in conjunction with the History Center's Second International Research Seminar on Decolonization, held in Washington, D.C., from July 9 through Aug. 4.
The lecture, titled "The End of European Colonial Empires," examined the creation of post-colonial states in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. What was the nature of European colonial rule? What are the legacies of the British, French, Dutch, German, Belgian, Portuguese and Spanish colonial systems?
Speaker Biography: William Roger Louis is Kerr Professor of English History and Culture at the University of Texas, where he is also a professor in the Middle Eastern Studies Department. Louis is the author or editor of approximately 30 books, including his recent book of collected essays, "Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez and Decolonization," which was published last year. He is chairman of the U.S. State Department's Historical Advisory Committee, a member of the Scholars' Council of the Library of Congress and a past president of the American Historical Association.
