Introduction -- PART I. DECOLONIZATION FOR COLONIZERS : EUROPE'S TRANSITION TO THE POSTCOLONIAL ERA. Myths of continuity and European exceptionalism : Britain, decolonization, and the Commonwealth family ideal -- Occupation, resistance, and liberation : the road to Dutch decolonization -- Soldiering on in the shadow of war : decolonizing la Plus Grande France -- Long live the king? : Belgium, the monarchy, and the Congo between the Second World War and the decolonization years -- From rose-coloured map to Carnation Revolution : Portugal's overseas amputations -- PART II. MIGRATIONS AND MULTICULTURALISMS IN POSTCOLONIAL EUROPE. Ending empires, coming home : the ghost worlds of European colonial repatriates -- Ethnic minority immigration from empires lost -- Reconfiguring nations : identities, belonging, and multiculturalism in the wake of postcolonial migration -- PART III. MEMORIES, LEGACIES, AND FURTHER DIRECTIONS. Remembering and forgetting empires -- EPILOGUE : THOUGHTS TOWARD NEW HISTORIES OF COMTEMPORARY EUROPE.