Post-colonial South Asia and Africa invite comparison: along with their political boundaries, they inherited from colonial regimes administrative languages, a cluster of sovereign state institutions and modern economic nuclei. When they became independent, South Asian and African states were - for all their diversity - thrust into a common position in the international system, and embarked on a common history as 'emergent', 'non-aligned', 'developing nations'. This is the first book to offer a single-volume comparative history of postcolonial South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in the first generation since independence. South Asia and Africa After Independence draws together the political and economic history of these two regions, assessing the colonial impact, establishing breaks and continuities, and highlighting their diversity and interplay. Waites sets out a framework for analysing the first generation of post-colonial history, offering an interpretation of 'post-colonialism' as a historical phenomenon, and provocatively challenging us to re-think this term in relation to South Asian and African history. This book is an important reference for the study of global, world, African and South Asian history.

Research into the impact of the First World War on European societies has recently begun on a major scale and Dr Waites has been one of the pioneers in this field in Britain. His book considers the War's effects on such major issues as popular images of class, the distribution of income and wealth in society, social relations within the working class, class consciousness and the educational experiences of children from different backgrounds. This study is noteworthy not only for its wide range of hitherto unpublished sources, but also for its attempt to bring social theory to bear upon the study of class relations in England during the first of this century's total wars.

Europe and the Third World provides a schematic historical analysis of the relations between Europe and the extra-European periphery within the twin contexts of global economic inequality and global disparities in political power. The colonial and imperial relationships between western Europe and the wider world since the late fifteenth century, and the course and consequences of decolonization, form the substance of the discussion, which concludes with a glance at the links between the European Union and the world's poorest states, most of which are former colonies.

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This book examines the concept of Europe in its relations to those areas of the globe beyond its borders. In particular, it is concerned with the historical evolution and contemporary setting of Europe "vis-a-vis" the United States of America, the Developing world and the former Soviet Union. This involves drawing on the perspectives of international history, politics and economics. A unifying feature of the analysis included here is provided by the fact that the "bi-polar world" that emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War has effectively been brought to an end with the collapse first of Soviet control in Eastern Europe, and then by the break-up of the Soviet Union itself and a prospective reduction of American influence in western Europe. What will Europe look like in an increasingly "multi-polar world"? An answer to this depends not only on the evolving external connections between Europe and other parts of the world but also on the internal development of European political and economic integration. The dynamics of this dual relationship are examined here.

Using an interdisciplinary approach, this book covers popular culture in Britain from the early 19h-century to the present. It brings together contributions dealing both with general cultural phenomena, such as literacy and class consciousness, and more specific popular cultural forms, such as the music hall and late 19th-century science fiction. The book also includes readings of contemporary cultural phenomena as diverse as motorcycle gangs, Jackie magazine and children's confectionery.