A history of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London from its foundation in 1916.

This book explicates long-standing literary celebrations of 'India' and 'Indian-ness' by charting a cultural history of Indianness in the Anglophone world, locating moments (in intellectual, religious and cultural history) where India and Indianness are offered up as solutions to modern moral, ethical and political questions in the 'West.' Beginning in the early 1800s, South Asians actively seek to occupy and modify spaces created by the scholarly discourses of Orientalism: the study of the East (‘Orient’) via Western (‘European’) epistemological frameworks. Tracing the varying fortunes of Orientalist scholars from the inception of British rule, this study charts the work of key Indologists in the colonial era. The rhetorical constructions of East and West deployed by both colonizer and colonized, as well as attempts to synthesize or transcend such constructions, became crucial to conceptions of the ‘modern.’ Eventually, Indian desire for political sovereignty together with the deeply racialized formations of imperialism produced a shift in the dialogic relationship between South Asia and Europe that had been initiated and sustained by orientalists. This impetus pushed scholarly discourse about India in Europe, North America and elsewhere, out of what had been a direct role in politics and theology and into high ‘Literary’ culture.

Louis Massignon, H.A.R. Gibb, Marshall Hodgsons and T.E. Lawrence are discussed in a collection of essays that focuses on the relationship between European and Islamic thought and culture from the late eighteenth to the twentieth century.

Originally a student of Meiji Japan, Gordon Daniels is widely known for his work on the Pacific War and the Occupation of Japan, with particular regard to the world of communications in film and propaganda as well as Japanese sport. He has also been closely involved with the post-war era of international relations and Japan, as well as studies in Japanese history and historiography. In the 1980s he made significant contributions in reporting on the scope and development of Japanese Studies in Britain. His most recent work has been as joint editor (and contributor) with Chushichi Tsuzuki of Social and Cultural Perspectives - the fifth of the five-volume series on the history of Anglo-Japanese Relations (Palgrave, 2002).

This monograph provides a concise introduction to the tangled issues of communication between Russian and Western scientists during the Cold War. It details the extent to which mid-twentieth-century researchers and practitioners were able to communicate with their counterparts on the opposite side of the Iron Curtain. Drawing upon evidence from a range of disciplines, a decade-by-decade account is first given of the varying levels of contact that existed via private correspondence and conference attendance. Next, the book examines the exchange of publications and the availability of one side's work in the libraries of the other. It then goes on to compare general language abilities on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, with comments on efforts in the West to learn Russian and the systematic translation of Russian work. In the end, author Christopher Hollings argues that physical accessibility was generally good in both directions, but that Western scientists were afflicted by greater linguistic difficulties than their Soviet counterparts whose major problems were bureaucratic in nature. This volume will be of interest to historians of Cold War science, particularly those who study communications and language issues. In addition, it will be an ideal starting pointing for anyone looking to know more about this fascinating area.

An international team of contributors analyzes the state of European, Japanese and American scholarship on China over the last decade, exploring in depth the main subjects and trends in research being done on contemporary Chinese politics, economy, foreign affairs and security studies.

This collection addresses key issues in the critique of Eurocentrism and racism regarding debates on the production of knowledge, historical narratives and memories in Europe and the Americas. Contributors explore the history of liberation politics as well as academic and political reaction through formulas of accommodation that re-centre the West.

The field of Middle East studies is undergoing a generational change in academia, government, and the corporate community. The men and women who trained the present generation of scholars and who shaped government and corporate policies toward the Middle East after World War II have begun to retire, and unfortunately some have recently died. To preserve their insights into the past and their visions of the future, Thomas Naff asked a number of major Islamic and Middle East scholars to provide their perspectives and views in a short, personal summation of their careers. This book is a compilation of their responses. It provides a unique evaluation of the last 30 or 40 years by ten of the most distinguished pioneers representing key branches of the field. Pierre Cachia, Albert Hourani, J.C. Hurewitz, Halil Inalcik, Charles Issawi, Ernest McCarus, George Makdisi, Don Peretz, Dankwart A. Rustow, and Farhat J. Ziadeh have provided their perspectives on the past and present, their visions of future paths to be explored, and their wisdom drawn from decades of experience and scholarship. Whatever didacticism is offered in this book is not formal. Lessons, insights, wisdom, and inspiration are almost invisibly woven into the fabric of fascinating biographical narrative told with wit, style, self-effacement, and candor.