Originally published in 1961 this book provides a brief historical and political analysis of the very complex but little changing problems which have confronted British and Commonwealth statesmen in their relations with South Africa from the time of the restoration of self-government to the defeated Boer republics of 1907-7 and the inauguration of the Union on May 31, 1910 to the secession of the Republic of South Africa from the Commonwealth on May 31, 1961. The book re-examines, in the light of documentary evidence which became available prior to publication, the aims of Liberal policy in restoring self-government to the Transvaal, the considerations which determined it and the more important consequences that flowed from it in the broader perspective of history.