The Gambia Colony and Protectorate (1967) provides both a history of the colony and a wealth of valuable practical and statistical information about its establishment and running. It provides a clear insight into the way that Britain’s colonies were governed and administered.

A History of Ghana (1958) uses both European archives and considerable research among African traditional histories to examine the history of the Gold Coast and Ghana. The African histories are particularly important, as many village traditions, and more so those of larger towns, have traditions that date back hundreds of years, and whose accuracy can be tallied with those of their neighbours. Accounts from Western sources do not shy away from detailing British mistakes in government, and the resulting book is an even-handed history with much under-read research direct from African sources.

Emergent Africa (1967) expertly compresses the story of European penetration into the Africa of 1800. Its fragmentation into colonies and their emergence as independent nations into a terse, clear narrative. It describes the first European explorations, the ‘Scramble for Africa’, the world wars, the achievement of independence, and modern problems such as apartheid and one-party rule.

The British West Indies (1960) examines the islands and two mainland colonies of the West Indies as they approached self-government. They exemplified in miniature almost all of the problems of emergent self-government in a colonial milieu with a multi-racial population. This study looks at West Indian politics and colonial government, as well as the issue of West Indian migration and its causes.

Local Government in West Africa (1964) examines colonial and independent local government in Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. With systems of British local government being adopted in English-speaking West Africa, this book looks at how the local government was supposed to work according to its British origins, and how it gradually came to work in its West African environment.

Malta and the End of Empire (1971) examines the now-forgotten moment in 1956 when the people of Malta, Gozo and Comino were asked by the British and Maltese Governments to decide whether they wanted full integration with the United Kingdom – a remarkable proposal which ran quite contrary to colonial policy at the time. This possibility of an end to empire by the absorption of a colony into the state system of the imperial power was being attempted by France and Portugal, but this instance was the sole case in British colonial history.

British Policy Towards the Indian States (1982) examines the concept of indirect rule in terms of both its application and consequences in the princely states of India during the first four decades of the twentieth century. The author first deals with the political geography and diversity of the princely states and the legacy of the Mughal emperors, and then proceeds to discuss the nature and consequences of the alliances established between the paramount power of the British Raj and the princes at the beginning of the twentieth century. The impact of the non-interference policy is assessed and a full consideration is given to the failure of that policy.

The Ruins of Time (1975) examines the conquest of the Maya by the Spanish, the discoveries and adventures of the first travellers among them, the dramatic journeys of Victorian archaeologists and explorers and also contemporary attempts to unravel Maya hieroglyphs.

The Yoruba-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa (1894) is an important work of in-depth research into one of the principal indigenous communities of West Africa. The territory of the Yoruba peoples extends over the southern parts of western Nigeria and eastern Dahomey, and this book examines their religion, customs, laws and language, and contains an extensive appendix comparing the Tshi (Oji), Gã, Ewe and Yoruba languages.

Vasco da Gama and His Successors (1970) looks at a range of Portuguese explorers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the most important being Vasco da Gama, whose first voyage to India ushered in a period of European conquest and empire, and established direct and permanent contact between Europe and the Far East.

The main focus of The Palestinians in Israel (1979) is the position of the Arab minority in Israel, from being a majority to becoming a minority. By using the framework of internal colonialism, it provides evidence which highlights the social class transformations of the Palestinians in Israel from peasantry to proletariat, the patterns of land alienation, and the nature of inter-ethnic contacts which typify Israeli–Palestinian relations. It looks at Arab social structure in pre-1948 Palestine, discusses the Arabs as they appear in Israeli social science writings, describes the transformation of Arab class structure in Israel, and considers the politicization of Israeli Arabs.

History of the Conquest of Peru (1959) contains a detailed analysis of the political, religious and social organisation of the Incas prior to the arrival of the Spanish colonisers, and then moves on to look at the story of the conquest and subjugation of the Incan Empire, the largest in South America.

Dual Legacies in the Contemporary Caribbean (1986) is a comparative and systematic study of the legacies bequeathed by British and French colonial rule in the Caribbean. It examines in detail what are self-evidently among the more tangible legacies from the era of slavery presently manifest in the region: the pattern, structure and decline of the sugar economy in the French and Commonwealth Caribbean; the continuing influence of Britain in the pre- and post-independence political systems of the Commonwealth Caribbean, as well as of France over its Caribbean possessions; and the retention and adaptation of cultural forms derived from colonial practice as variously exhibited in the educational and ideological beliefs current within the region. These essays offer provocative insights and report intriguing parallels between the British and French experiences in the region. They also offer new interpretations of the processes at work in the area and confirm the utility of the comparative approach in appraising its problems.

Black Flags in Vietnam (1968) examines nineteenth-century conflict between China, Vietnam and France. For the first thousand years of its history, Vietnam had been an integral part of China, and during subsequent centuries of self-rule had acknowledged Chinese suzerainty. In the 1850s, France, seeking a base for the political and commercial penetration of southern China, occupied Saigon and the Mekong Delta, hoping to navigate the river. This plan failed, and they turned instead to the Red River, which flows from China through northern Vietnam to Hanoi and the sea. China, weakened by years of domestic strife, seemed in no position to protect her vassal. Then, by a strange quirk of fortune, a band of Chinese freebooters, the Black Flags, who had crossed into Vietnam in search of pillage, defeated two French expeditions. In 1884, Peking went to war.

The Turning Point in Africa (1982) is a significant study of British colonial policy towards tropical Africa during a critical decade, from the complacent trusteeship of the inter-war years to the strategy of decolonization inaugurated after the Second World War. Charting a course through a wide variety of official sources and private papers, the work assesses the importance for colonial policy of the Colonial Office, the Colonial Service, the Labour Party, African nationalists, and of ideological and moral preconceptions. The revolution in African policy is investigated with a wide and yet detailed approach. Special attention is devoted to the effects of the Second World War on Britain and its empire and to the importance of American anti-imperialist pressure on the British Government. The importance of three men – the adviser Lord Hailey, politician Arthur Creech Jones and civil servant Andrew Cohen – receives attention and an assessment is made of their contribution to a policy which, from 1948 onwards, led to a rapid decolonization in large parts of Africa. The significance of this policy is analysed in detail. The British aimed at ‘nation-building’: indirect rule was to be replaced by the forms of English-style local government while rapid constitutional progress at the centre was to be conceded, in accordance with a preconceived model, once powerful nationalist movements had arisen. However, as the book shows, progress at the centre was introduced prematurely and outstripped reform in local government so that progress was not the balanced development the British had wished to see. Decolonization had been given an irreversible momentum by British planning.

The Struggle for Asia 1828–1914 (1977) studies a classic case of rival imperialisms. British leaders tended to believe that Russian expansion threatened India; Russian leaders came to believe in a British threat to their empire. Each sought security by trying to control the policies of weaker states which lay between their imperial frontiers and on whose alignment depended the balance of power. By 1914, when both felt even more threatened by Germany than by one another, Russia seemed to have gained the upper hand in a struggle for hegemony in Asia which had been crucial for the course of world politics. This book examines the intellectual origins of the ‘Great Game’.

In the half century preceding imperial control approximately eight hundred Britons lived and travelled in East and Central Africa. Prelude to Imperialism (1965) examines their relations with and attitudes to African tribal societies. The author presents a broad survey of tribal life, an analysis of culture contact, and an extended discussion of the underlying assumptions of the British evaluation of Africans and of the conditions in which they lived. The description of African social conditions and the analysis of grass roots imperialism constitute important contributions to the debate on Western imperialism.

There have been few more remarkable events than the European colonisation and decolonisation of Africa. Often within a single lifespan countries were conquered, reorganised, settled and then granted independence. Colonial Africa (1984) examines the impact this had on the landscape of Africa. The period of colonial contact between Europe and Africa had been lengthy, beginning in the early fifteenth century; yet for much of the continent the colonial period was relatively short, from the 1880s to the 1960s. European intervention in the nineteenth century was motivated by new demands of the European economy, resulting in the conquest of virtually the entire continent. As a result various groups of colonists arrived in Africa and each tried to impose a particular imprint upon the landscape. The colonial powers each had their own styles which are most evident in the architecture bequeathed to independent Africa. This is a clear account of the way that historical attitudes have dictated the appearance and geography of modern Africa.

Chatham's Colonial Policy (1917) examines Britain’s colonial plans and ambition in the mid-eighteenth century, under the leadership of the Earl of Chatham – William Pitt the Elder. It analyses his policies for British control around the world, most notably in the West Indies, North America, Africa and India, and how these policies brought Britain into conflict with Europe’s two main colonial powers, Spain and France.

Race, Power and Social Segmentation in Colonial Society (1987) studies Guyanese society after slavery and specifically examines the area of social classes and ethnic groups. It also focuses on the theoretical issues in the debate on pluralism versus stratification and provides a detailed interdisciplinary analysis of the process of structural change in a composite colonial society over a significantly long historical period – over half a century.

The English and Colonial Bars in the Nineteenth Century (1983) explores the impact of a changing society on the legal profession. Of central concern is the practising bar of England and Wales and its evolution from a small, highly centralised profession to a mass body that had lost much of its corporate unity. This study also examines the role of the inns of court as forging members of the governing elite and looks at the participation of barristers in the world of business, as well as considering the structure of the colonial legal profession.

History of Nigeria (1969) was first published in 1929 and completely revised by its author, and gives the history of Nigeria from before its first encounters with the British, through colonial rule, and up to independence in 1960. It describes the peoples of Nigeria and the British conquest and colonial administration, and is full of detailed and valuable information relating to trade and industry, transport, housing, land tenure, education, religion and tribal customs. Appendices feature royal genealogies and the texts of treaties.

History of the British West Indies (1954) examines the history of the islands of the Caribbean from their first discovery, through the periods of colonisation and slavery, and up to the beginnings of their status as independent nations. The actions of other nations are studied, as well as the British, as the various colonial powers vied for possession of these valuable possessions. Terrible cruelty was inflicted by colonial masters to the indigenous inhabitants, the slaves and indentured labour, and the worst of these are recorded in separate appendices.

In an increasingly global community of researchers and practitioners, new technologies and communication means have made the transfer of policies from one country or region to another progressively more prevalent. There has been a lot of attention in the field of public administration paid to policy transfer and institutional transplantation. This book aims to create a better understanding of such transfers in the water management sector. These include the adoption of modern water management concepts, such as integrated water resources management and forms of water governance, which are strongly promoted and sometimes also imposed by various international organizations. Transfers also occur within the scope of development aid or for the purpose of creating business opportunities. In addition, many research organisations, consultancies and governmental agencies are involved in cross-border work. The purpose of this book is therefore to present practical examples of the transfer of modern water management from one locality to another and to critically discuss the transferability of policy and governance concepts by analysing the contextual needs and factors. Case studies are included from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It is argued that in many cases context matters in water management and that there is no panacea or universal concept that can be applied to all countries or regions with different political, economic, cultural and technological contexts. Yet it is also shown that some countries are facing pressing and similar water management issues that cut across national borders, and hence the transfer of knowledge may be beneficial.