L’enigma del Commonwealth. La storiografia britannica e la scomoda eredità imperiale

Abstract

This review covers the key stages of the complex British historiographical debate on the Commonwealth of Nations. Long regarded, even in academic circles, as merely a posthumous legacy of the Empire and a difficult organization to define, the Commonwealth’s history has been shaped by the intense debate that followed the rise of post-colonial and subaltern studies. This debate persisted into the 21st century, further reignited by the UK’s exit from the European Union, yet Commonwealth history has largely remained on the fringes of British historiography, with only a few notable exceptions.

Keywords

• british historiography
• commonwealth history
• imperial history
• interpretive debate
• postcolonial studies