Understanding the Commonwealth through the Library collections

As Krishnan Srinivasan has noted, the Commonwealth is perhaps the only international organisation shaped by the British experience and by the experience that other nations have had of the British. No wonder, then, that the organisation has, arguably, perpetually struggled for identity and purpose. During the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, there was renewed discussion about the role of the organisation, what exactly it does, and how the UK’s relationship with it is set to change in the wake of the decision to leave the European Union. We take a look at some items in the Commonwealth Studies collection at Senate House Library which might shed some light (or not) on those conversations.