This work investigates the strategic, economic, and political factors that necessitated the withdrawal of British military forces from regions east of the Suez Canal between 1947 and 1968. Phillip Darby, a scholar of international relations, utilizes archival records and government policy documents to analyze the decline of Britain as a global imperial power. The text argues that the transition from an imperial defense posture to a European-focused security framework was driven by fiscal constraints and shifting geopolitical realities in the post-war era.

Historians and political scientists recognize this book as a definitive account of the end of Britain's global military presence. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which serves as a foundational text for understanding the strategic contraction of the British state.