The Last Colony

A Tale of Exile, Justice, and Courage

By: Philippe Sands

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh, Philippe Sands

Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

The moving, inspiring David-and-Goliath true story of freedom and justice involving one tiny nation in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, and the extraordinary woman, a descendant of slaves, who dared to take on the Crown and the United Kingdom—and win a historic victory

In 1973, on the Chagos Islands off the coast of Africa, Liseby Elyse—twenty years old, newly married and four months pregnant—was, rounded up, along with the entire population of Chagos, and ordered to pack her belongings and leave her beloved homeland by ship or slowly starve; the British had cut off all food supplies.

Some two thousand people who had lived on the islands of Chagos for generations, many the direct descendants of enslaved people brought there from Mozambique and Madagascar in the 18th century by the French and British, were deported overnight from their island paradise as the result of a secret decision by the British government to provide the United States with land to construct a military base in the Indian Ocean.

For four decades the government of Mauritius fought for the return of Chagos. Three decades into the battle, Philippe Sands became the lead lawyer in the case, designing its legal strategy and assembling a team of lawyers from Mauritius, Belgium, India, Ukraine, and the U.S.

When the case finally reached the World Court in the Hague, Sands chose as the star witness the diminutive Liseby Elyse, now sixty-five years old, and instructed her to appear before the court, speaking in Kreol, to tell the fourteen international judges her story of forced exile. The fate of Chagos rested on her testimony.

The judges faced a landmark decision: Would they rule that Britain illegally detached Chagos from Mauritius? Would Liseby Elyse sway the judges and open the door, allowing her and her fellow Chagossians to return home—or would they remain exiled forever?

Philippe Sands writes of his own journey into international law and that of the World Court in the Hague, and of the extraordinary decades-long quest of Liseby Elyse, and the people of Chagos, in their fight for justice and a free and fair return to the idyllic land of their birth.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of accompanying maps from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Philippe Sands (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Compelling . . . Impressive . . . With the deftness of marquetry, Sands lays down the groundwork of international law and its evolution during the Cold War . . . One of the many merits of this intriguing account of how the case against Britain was finally brought to The Hague is its human focus . . . [Sands] has done the islanders proud.”—David Profumo, The Spectator

“A moving story of human tragedy and injustice with the complexities of international law to great effect. A neat work of detailed legal points and history, and a deeply felt narrative about the injustice of deportation and the dwindling number of Chagossians with strong ties to their homeland. Madame Elysé is an impressive, courageous figure and emblem, putting a human face on colonialism’s continuing wrongs, both for the International Court and this book. There is much to appreciate about this little-known story in Sands’s sensitive telling. A complex case of international law and a stirring tale of injustice and homecoming.”—Julia Kastner, Shelf Awareness

“A piercing account . . . Sands efficiently combines history, memoir, and astute legal analysis. A powerful testament to the lasting damage of imperialism.”—Publishers Weekly