The pomp and splendour of imperial rule is encapsulated in rare colour film of the 1911 Delhi Durbar in India, through to the nationalist movement led by Gandhi and Nehru after the First World War.

Rare archive footage from the days of the British Empire, focusing on the beginning of its dismantlement. Featuring news of communist insurgency in Malaya, the Suez crisis and uprisings across colonial Africa.

As Queen Elizabeth II is crowned, Britain is changing. People emigrate in droves to escape post-war hardship, while West Indian immigrants arrive in search of a better life.