The decline of the British Empire following the end of the Second World War, the rise of Scottish and Welsh nationalisms in the 1970s as well as Britain integration into Europe and the recent crisis in the multicultural model contributed to a redefinition of Britishness. This article reviews historiographical developments regarding the interaction between imperial and Commonwealth studies and British national identity from the late 1980s. Since then, historians have tended to focus much more on a cultural interpretation of imperial history. Besides, they have been more interested in the impact of empire on British society than on the influence of British civilization on dominions and colonies. These approaches are remarkable for the use of new sources, especially visual ones, a plural conception of British identity and the criticism of such concepts as imperialism. Historians such as Linda Colley, Andrew Thompson and Bernard Porter have tried to work out a pragmatic and critical answer to the much debated question of the integration of imperial history to British history in a post-imperial context. Lastly, they advocate a development of comparative approaches of the different imperial histories.