In Ceylon, colonized by the British, an Indian Tamil woman describes the events that follow the departure of the British from the plantations. She imagines the possibility of a new world as the Indians reclaim their land. However, the reality that follows shows how the British values persist and are upheld by ethnic differences between the Indians on the plantation.

While conducting research in the remote country of Keteng, a Stanford grad student hears that another American has entered the country and is challenging the power structures in place.

In colonial Angola, a Herero woman torn between her family and her oppressive white husband finds herself accused of disloyalty on all sides. Despite significant sacrifice, disaster ensues when she tries to honor both commitments.

An Australian soldier spends several seasons stationed in a British Imperialist colony in Asia where he interacts with the city’s residents and comes to terms with the evils of imperialism.

While visiting a Jewish colony in Argentina, a man gives a lecture as part of an effort to revive Yiddish culture in the settlement. Afterward, he hears from locals the unexpectedly unrighteous history of life in the colony.

A young Native American man visits a burial site on a nearby island and must reflect on both his allegiance to his culture and to himself.

When he discovers gold near his village, an African man dissatisfied with his lot in life develops new obsessions, flouts old responsibilities, and ultimately loses more than he gains.

When a shipbreaker travels to an African island to shut down a shipyard owned by his employer, he meets an ex-Corporate America worker who pushes him to reconsider.

After being offered a 100,000 pound advance to write a book on the twentieth century, a historian/writer struggling with depression takes to London to begin this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

After an explosion kills several of his workers, the manager of a tin mine in French Indochina must confront the poor working conditions and growing ethnic resentment that his enterprise has created.