When Zambia became Independent in 1964, the white colonial population did not suddenly evaporate. Some had supported Independence, others had virulently opposed it, but all had to reappraise their nationality, residence and careers. A few became Zambian citizens and many more chose to stay while without committing themselves. But most of the colonial population eventually trickled out of the country to start again elsewhere. Pamela Charmer-Smith has traced survivors of this population to discover how new lives where constructed and new perspectives generated. Her account draws on the power of postcolonial memory to understand the many ways that copper miners, district officers, school-children and housewives became the empires relics. Her work is not that of a dispassionate outsider but of one who grew up in Northern Rhodesia, knew its colonial population and has considerable affection for Zambia.