Government in West Africa (1968) examines the practical working of modern government and the constitutional history of West Africa. It looks at various political thinkers and their application to the issues of civil government in West Africa; modern constitutional struggles on the continent; and problems associated with different political systems in the region.

East Africa (1971) examines the century from 1870 that saw the emergence of East Africa from an ancient isolation into the modern world. This survey pays attention to the social and economic as well as the political history of this transition, and takes pains to understand the ideas and motives of the various groups who make up the population of East Africa. It closely examines the African peoples’ struggle for economic as well as political independence from their colonisers.

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.

James Smith (1989) is study of this hitherto-neglected maker of colonial culture, and traces the rise and decline of the transplanted ideas and values that Smith and many of his fellow immigrants to Australia upheld. It reveals the remarkable vigour with which Smith set about making a new society out of the legacy of the old, and which saw the transformation of Melbourne from gold-rush town to Australia’s largest and most influential city in the new Federation.

Early Records of British India (1972) is an important collection of source material deriving from official documents which now form part of the India Office Records. It throws light upon the beginnings of British power through the rise of the East India Company and the corresponding decline of the Mughal Empire. The extracts are illustrated, or held together, by an explanatory narrative which enables the work to be read continuously as a coherent whole whilst an ample index provides ready identification of particular circumstances.

Buddhism, Imperialism and War (1979) is a lively, provocative and informative study of two of the most important Buddhist countries of South East Asia – Burma and Thailand. Buddhism gives, in theory, a high place to the maintenance of peace, both between individuals and between social groups. In practice however, Buddhist nations are no strangers to the battlefield. This book explores the complexity surrounding the issue, and reveals much for the first time that has been obscure and misunderstood.

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.

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.

Parliament as an Export (1966) deals with the adoption of overseas countries and particularly the Commonwealth countries of the British Parliamentary system. These countries examined are the original British colonies, the Dominions, the Indian sub-continent and the newer colonial territories.

A History of the Georgian People (1971) begins with an account of the early history and ethnographic background of Georgia, and goes on to cover the country’s political history from 1000 to 1800 and Russian conquest. There are chapters on the social history of the country, with much interesting information on the feudal system, religion, justice and the slave trade. The final, illustrated section, discusses the art and literature of the Georgians.

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.

Imperialism and Social Reform (1960) examines British social-imperialism and the development of social-imperial thought: the promotion of a ‘people’s imperialism’, or the support of the working classes for the imperialist system. It looks at the social and economic background and analyses the various forms of social-imperial thought, including the vigorous strand of imperial-socialists, who asserted that the welfare of the working classes depended upon imperial strength.

Colonialism and Underdevelopment in Ghana (1978) examines Ghana’s integration into the world economic system, and the effects which such integration had on its development. The time period covered coincides both with the institution of formal political control in Ghana, and with the use of that control to promote Ghana’s development as a peripheral capitalist nation, as a supplier of primary agricultural and mineral products and as a buyer of manufactured goods. 1939 is taken as the cut-off for this book as it ends the classical colonial period.

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.

The Colonial Office (1956) examines the organisation and work of the Office as it stood in the mid-1950s. The role of the Colonial Office had changed following the Second World War, and this book looks at the reasons for the change and its new role. It is an important examination of the administration of colonialism, and the workings of the central power in the governing of colonies.

Where the Waves Fall (1984) centres the stories of the Pacific Islanders and how they were affected by European explorers and colonisers in this unique account of human settlement and cultural interchange in the Pacific islands. It follows the fortunes of the seafarers who discovered island after island in the world’s largest ocean, traces the development of their civilisations and examines in depth the interaction between them and the newcomers – European explorers, traders, beachcombers, missionaries, merchants – who from the sixteenth century came in an increasing series of waves. The book’s framework enables the author to throw new light on hitherto isolated events. Novel suggestions are advanced as to why some islands became ‘kingdoms’ in the earlier years of European contact and why others did not, and of how and why missionaries were accepted on some islands but not on others. Nor does Professor Howe shrink from provocative and at times controversial arguments concerning the ambitions and strategies of island leaders and indeed the overall nature and extent of the initiatives taken by the islanders.

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.

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.

Capitalism and Colonial Production (1982) examines the ways in which capitalism has transformed the societies it came to dominate, and the link between colonialism and capitalism. These essays confront the complex of issues, using as material the various countries in Asia. They advance the debate by reconsidering the problems involved by identifying pre-colonial modes of production and by analysing the precise details of the changes wrought by colonial domination. They argue that capitalism does not in these countries co-exist side-by-side with feudalism, but that colonialism has created distinctive forms of capitalism depending for their character on pre-colonial modes of production.

Colonial Sequence 1930-1949 (1967) presents a valuable body of evidence for the enquiry into Britain’s colonial actions, written at a time when Britain was retreating from empire. In these collected articles we see Britain’s colonial service in action, snapshots from the time and place, revealing colonialism with all its limitations and mistakes, achievements and ideals.