Postretirement and Other Employee Benefits (Fair Value of Plan Assets) (Details 4) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Aug. 31, 2015	Aug. 31, 2014		Aug. 31, 2013
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets		$ 134,808	$ 136,451		$ 117,478
Fair value of plan assets allocation		100.00%	100.00%
Level 1
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets		$ 4,567	$ 4,642
Level 2
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets		116,037	119,350
Level 3
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets		14,204	12,459	[1]
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets		$ 4,567	$ 4,642
Fair value of plan assets allocation		3.00%	3.00%
Cash and Cash Equivalents | Level 1
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets		$ 4,567	$ 4,642
Equity Securities | Global Equity Securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[2]	$ 24,143	$ 23,726
Fair value of plan assets allocation	[2]	18.00%	18.00%
Equity Securities | U.K. Equity Securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[3]	$ 24,211	$ 22,759
Fair value of plan assets allocation	[3]	18.00%	17.00%
Equity Securities | Level 2 | Global Equity Securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[2]	$ 24,143	$ 23,726
Equity Securities | Level 2 | U.K. Equity Securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[3]	24,211	22,759
Debt Securities | U.K. Corporate Bonds
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[4]	$ 50,817	$ 54,595
Fair value of plan assets allocation	[4]	38.00%	40.00%
Debt Securities | U.K. Government Bonds
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[5]	$ 16,866	$ 18,270
Fair value of plan assets allocation	[5]	12.00%	13.00%
Debt Securities | Level 2 | U.K. Corporate Bonds
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[4]	$ 50,817	$ 54,595
Debt Securities | Level 2 | U.K. Government Bonds
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[5]	16,866	18,270
Insurance Contracts
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[1]	$ 14,204	$ 12,459
Fair value of plan assets allocation	[1]	11.00%	9.00%
Insurance Contracts | Level 3
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	[1]	$ 14,204	$ 12,459

[1] The assets related to The Netherlands plan consist of an insurance contract that guarantees the payment of the funded pension entitlements, as well as provides a profit share to the Company. The profit share in this contract is not based on actual investments, but, instead on a notional investment portfolio that is expected to return a pre-defined rate. Insurance contract assets are recorded at fair value, which is determined based on the cash surrender value of the insured benefits which is the present value of the guaranteed funded benefits. Insurance contr acts are valued using unobservable inputs (Level 3 inputs), primarily by discounting expected future cash flows relating to benefits paid from a notional investment portfolio in order to determine the cash surrender value of the policy. The unobservable in puts consist of estimated future benefits to be paid throughout the duration of the policy and estimated discount rates, which both have an immaterial impact on the fair value estimate of the contract.

[2] Global equity securities are categorized as Level 2 and include investments that aim to capture global equity market returns by tracking the Financial Times (London) Stock Exchange (“FTSE”) AW-World (ex-UK) Index and other similar indexes in Germany .

[3] U.K. equity securities are categorized as Level 2 and include investments in a diversified portfolio that aims to capture the returns of the U.K. equity market. The portfolio tracks the FTSE All-Share Index and invests only in U.K. securities.

[4] U.K. corporate bonds are categorized as Level 2 and include U.K. corporate issued fixed income investments which are managed and tracked to the respective benchmark (AAA-AA-A Bonds-Over 15Y Index).

[5] U.K. government bonds are categorized as Level 2 a nd include U.K. government-issued fixed income investments which are managed and tracked to the respective benchmark (FTSE U.K. Over 15 Years Gilts Index and FTSE U.K. Over 5 Years Index-Linked).