With original case studies of a more than a dozen countries, Monarchies and decolonisation in Asia offers new perspectives on how both European monarchs who reigned over Asian colonies and Asian royal houses adapted to decolonisation. As colonies became independent states (and European countries, and other colonial powers, lost their overseas empires), monarchies faced the challenges of decolonisation, republicanism and radicalism. These studies place dynasties – both European and ‘native’ – at the centre of debate about decolonisation and the form of government of new states, from the sovereigns of Britain, the Netherlands and Japan to the maharajas of India, the sultans of the East Indies and the ‘white rajahs’ of Sarawak. It provides new understanding of the history of decolonisation and of the history of modern monarchy.

‘…the range of accounts offered here complicate the picture of decolonisation, demonstrating that, far from being sidelined by transitions to national independence, monarchies were consistently pivotal.’ Professor Martin C. Thomas, University of Exeter

'In Monarchies and Decolonisation in Asia, the editors have done a sterling job in compiling a stimulating collection of studies that shine a much-needed light on a continent whose history is dominated by imperialism and monarchy, yet monarchy during the end of empire is often neglected in history texts. '
Royal Studies Journal

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Robert Aldrich is Professor of European History at the University of Sydney

Cindy McCreery is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Sydney