The principal argument in Gibraltar and Empire is that Gibraltarians constitute a separate and distinctive people, notwithstanding the political stance taken by the government of Spain.

Various factors - environmental, ethnic, economic, political, religious, linguistic, educational and informal - are adduced to explain the emergence of a sense of community on the Rock and an attachment to the United Kingdom. A secondary argument is that the British empire has left its mark in Gibraltar in various forms - such as militarily - and for a number of reasons. Gilbraltar and Empire's exploration of the manifold reasons why the Gibraltarians have bucked the trend in the history of decolonization comes at a time when the issues in question have come to the fore in diplomatic and political areas.

E. G. Archer has been successively teacher, head teacher and university lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. He served as the Secretary of the Hispanic Society of Scotland for over thirteen years. A frequent visitor to Gibraltar, he co-authored Education in Gibraltar 1704-2004, and a book on the village of Catalan Bay.