First published in 1929, this title presents some reflections from one of the leading cultural commenters of his day, Edwyn Bevan, on the notoriously controversial subject of burgeoning Indian Nationalism during the twilight of the British Empire. Bevan’s analysis of the peculiarities, tensions and divisive issues of the Indian situation as it existed at the end of the 1920s is of particular relevance today, as historians attempt to develop a nuanced and, as far as possible, objective account of the differing mentalities that proved so volatile. The argument proceeds with reference to a range of seemingly disparate topics: the difference between forward- and backward-looking nationalism, the physical well-being of the average Indian, and religious ethos, to name only three. This fascinating reissue will prove valuable to students of Indian and colonial history, British foreign policy and the politics of nationalism.

First published in 1929, this title presents some reflections from one of the leading cultural commenters of his day, Edwyn Bevan, on the notoriously controversial subject of burgeoning Indian Nationalism during the twilight of the British Empire. Bevan’s analysis of the peculiarities, tensions and divisive issues of the Indian situation as it existed at the end of the 1920s is of particular relevance today, as historians attempt to develop a nuanced and, as far as possible, objective account of the differing mentalities that proved so volatile. The argument proceeds with reference to a range of seemingly disparate topics: the difference between forward- and backward-looking nationalism, the physical well-being of the average Indian, and religious ethos, to name only three. This fascinating reissue will prove valuable to students of Indian and colonial history, British foreign policy and the politics of nationalism.

First published in 1909, the purpose of this book was to draw attention to the political, social and religious changes that were taking place in India and detail how this should inform British colonial policy. The author argues that the political situation demanded decisive action as several factors had caused increasing difficulties in administration: waning enthusiasm on the part of English officials, greater tension between the governors and the governed — often caused by colonial arrogance which had been brought into sharper relief by spread of education and the growth of patriotic feeling. He also argues that the crux of India’s economic difficulties was the poverty of its people and asserts that the solution to both problems was the ‘sympathetic and systematic encouragement of her legitimate aspirations and patriotic tendencies’. In regard to the social and religious changes, the author observes that the changes are not less considerable and advises that the government should, as far as was possible, maintain the existing basis by a policy of ‘wise conservation’. This book will be of interest to students of Indian history and colonialism.

First published in 1931, Robert Byron’s Essay on India evaluates the state of colonial rule in India and analyses the contemporary problems facing the country. Based upon Byron’s travelling experiences within India in 1929 as a correspondent for the Daily Express, the work explores political factors more fully than in Byron's earlier writings, evaluating the successes and failures of British colonialism in the region.

First published in 1930, the author asserts that this book presents a human India ‘in all sorts of conditions and moods’. It details her first-hand experiences as a female missionary in India over the course of thirty-three years in India along with some further accounts related by eyewitnesses. It avoids proposing theories of giving abstract general pronouncements but instead focuses on the individual people with the intention that it would promote greater understanding of the nation by westerners. This book will be of interest to students of Indian, colonial and women’s history.

First published in 1938, this book aims to provide a history of the rise and growth of the Indian National Congress for the general reader, covering the period from its foundation in 1885 until the beginning of the non-co-operation movement in 1920. It was intended to extend the official history of the Congress by Pattabhi Sitarammayya by making it more accessible to western readers while also giving more space to the religious and social forces in Indian history during the nineteenth century which led to the birth of the congress. It also looks at forerunner organisations like The British Indian Association before examining the history and evolution of the congress in several phases.

This book deals firstly with the economic and social conditions of life among the villagers, the artisans, and other workers in cities and towns of South India, and also with the new issues raised in India during the most momentous years of its history since the mutiny – the commercial and financial disturbances following the war, the sudden appearance of aggressive Trade Unionism, the famines of 1918 and 1920, the rise of the Home Rule agitation and the Non-Co-operation movement, and the coming into operation of the new Constitution of 1919. The author, who went to India in 1915 as Professor of Indian Economics in the University of Madras, was quickly brought into contact with heads of departments of the Provincial Government, was nominated by Lord Willingdon to the Madras Legislative Council, served in the Indian Board of Agriculture, and stayed on for a year in charge of the Madras Publicity Office. In these and in other ways he has had exceptional opportunities of getting insight into Indian problems from an unusual point of view.

Scores of books and articles have been published, addressing one or another aspect of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Missing from this body of scholarship, however, has been a comprehensive analysis of the intellectual and ideological cornerstones of one of the most dramatic revolutions in our time. In this remarkable volume, Hamid Dabashi brings together, in a sustained and engagingly written narrative, the leading revolutionaries who have shaped the ideological disposition of this cataclysmic event. Dabashi has spent over ten years studying the writings, in their original Persian and Arabic, of the most influential Iranian clerics and thinkers.Examining the revolutionary sentiments and ideas of such figures as Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Ali Sharicati, Morteza Motahhari, Sayyad Abolhasan Bani-Sadr, and finally the Ayatollah Khomeini, the work also analyzes the larger historical and theoretical implications of any construction of the Islamic Ideology. Carefully located in the social and intellectual context of the four decades preceding the 1979 revolution, Theology of Discontent is the definitive treatment of the ideological foundations of the Islamic Revolution, with particular attention to the larger, more enduring ramifications of this revolution for radical Islamic revivalism in the entire Muslim world.This volume will be of interest to Islamicists, Middle East historians and specialists, as well as scholars and students of liberation theologies, comparative religious revolutions, and mass collective behavior. Bruce Lawrence of Duke University calls this volume a superb and unprecedented study.... In brilliant figural strokes, he arrays EuroAmerican sociological theory as the crucial backdrop of a deeper understanding of contemporary Iranian history.

This volume examines the state of democracy in South Asia after the first two decades of the millennium. It shows how the inroads made by democracy that surged through South Asia at the turn of the century stands at the crossroads after two decades. The Taliban regaining strength in Afghanistan, tricky civil-military relations in Pakistan, the political stand-off in Nepal, as well as the undermining of civil rights in other countries point to the deepening challenges to democracy in the region. At the same time the region presents many positives to be taken forward and opportunities to be carried forward. The chapters in the volume map the gains made and challenges faced by every South Asian country, especially since 2000. Going beyond the usual regional powers like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the volume includes detailed analysis of the state of democracy and future trajectories of Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Maldives. The volume will be of great interest to scholars, researchers and students of politics and international relations and South Asian studies.

A wide-ranging survey of the Indian sub-continent, Modern South Asia gives an enthralling account of South Asian history. After sketching the pre-modern history of the subcontinent, the book concentrates on the last three centuries from c.1700 to the present. Jointly written by two leading Indian and Pakistani historians, Modern South Asia offers a rare depth of understanding of the social, economic and political realities of this region. This comprehensive study includes detailed discussions of: the structure and ideology of the British raj; the meaning of subaltern resistance; the refashioning of social relations along lines of caste class, community and gender; and the state and economy, society and politics of post-colonial South Asia The new edition includes a rewritten, accessible introduction and a chapter by chapter revision to take into account recent research. The second edition will also bring the book completely up to date with a chapter on the period from 1991 to 2002 and adiscussion of the last millennium in sub-continental history.