Introduction: Situating Federation The introduction will provide an up-to-date historiographical survey of the Federation and situate what follows in the wider literature on decolonization and African history. Chapter 1: Towards federation This chapter will discuss moves towards a closer association of Britain's central African territories, explore why these moves failed to come to fruition, and detail the final adoption of the Federal scheme and its early years. Chapter 2: The pipedream of partnership, 1957-1959 Chapter 2 will explore the first signs of pressure on the Federation, in central Africa and Britain, from the settler government's Constitutional Amendment Bill to the outbreak of the Nyasaland Emergency. Chapter 3: Pressure mounts, 1960-61. This chapter will provide a fresh interpretation of the Nyasaland emergency in 1959 and evaluate the impact of both the Devlin and Monckton Commissions on the Federation's prospect for success. Chapter 4: The 'wind of change', 1962-1963. Chapter 4 will discuss developments and debates across the final years of the Federation which culminated with its eventual dissolution at midnight on 31 December 1963. Chapter 5: The business of Federation, 1957-1963.

This chapter provides a new interpretation of the activities of the two major mining companies in the Federation, the South African mining giant Anglo American and the United States owned Rhodesian Selection Trust. It expands on my previous work in this area to argue for a different interpretation of the role of multinational business in central Africa during this period. Chapter 6: Federation in the wider-world, 1957-1963. Decolonization in Central Africa, This chapter provides the first detailed assessment of the Federation as an issue in the wider world community. As such it focuses on how the Federation was perceived and influenced by its relationship with South Africa, the United States and the United Nations. Conclusion This chapter summarizes the book's main findings.