Left till last; time to disengage

A misconception based on a mistranslation. The sands of time were a poor foundation for building a history that had already seen empires come and go. There never was a 'Great Britain', there was  a 'large' Britain, and there was a 'little' Britain; Little & Large (two comedians). The joke is on the Empire builders and has gone on long enough; it's time for the first British colonies bar one, at long last, last being the operative word, to disengage..