Foreword

A foreword is meant to convey something about the significance of the book it precedes. It is meant to have greater weight than a mere advertisement but nonetheless tell potential readers why they should read this book. This book is significant, and anyone who thinks about the legacy of the British Empire and the rule of law should read this book.

Decolonisation is a popular term today but, given it is an essentially negative term, it has a potential to mislead. The consequences of colonialism under the British Empire are not going away any time in the foreseeable future. The legacy of the Roman Empire is still with us more than a millennia after its fall. The British Empire was the largest in history and, given that its peak is still within living memory, it still determines the language, the law, the literature and the lineage of so much of the world today. The good and bad of the British Empire must therefore occupy our critical attention. If we are to consider seriously what the rule of law means in this world, we cannot actually decolonise. We can criticise and evaluate the Empire, and reassert the cultures it dominated, but we cannot decolonise away what has happened.