A growing number of historians, political commentators, and cultural critics have sought to analyze Ireland's past and present in colonial terms. For some, including Irish Republicans, it is the only proper framework for understanding Ireland. Others reject the very use of the colonial label for Ireland's history; amongst some Ulster Unionists the term is greeted with outrage. This book evaluates and analyzes these controversies, which range from debates over the ancient and medieval past to those in current literary and postcolonial theory. Scholarly, at times polemical, it is the most...

In recent years, imperial history has experienced a newfound vigour, dynamism and diversity. There has been an explosion of new work in the field, which has been driven into even greater prominence by contemporary world events. However, this resurgence has brought with it disputes between those who are labelled as exponents of a 'new imperial history' and those who can, by default, be termed old imperial historians.

This collection not only gathers together some of the most important, influential and controversial work which has come to be labelled 'new imperial history',...

A critique of Afrocentrism that suggests an alternative historical understanding of Africa and its diaspora.

This is the first scholarly study of British anticolonialism, which was an offshoot of a massive global upsurge of anticolonial sentiment which has dominated much of the history of this century. In this wide-ranging and important book, Stephen Howe evaluates the changing ways in which, arising out of the experience of Empire and decolonization, more general ideas about imperialism, nationalism, and underdevelopment were developed during these years. He also surveys the attitudes and activities relating to colonial issues of British critics of Empire during the years of decolonization. The...