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.

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.

The first single-volume comparative history of postcolonial South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in the first generation since independence. Drawing together detailed economic and political analysis, Waites assesses the colonial impact on these regions, establishing breaks and continuities, and highlighting their diversity and interplay.