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Indian nationalism, as a modern political phenomenon, is probably the single most comprehensive example of the unfolding of development encompassing the entire gamut of the social and economic life of an immensely complex nation. Throughout the colo¬nial era and since indepen¬dence, different aspects of nationalism have been high¬lighted in the actual working out of its concrete manifesta¬tion: the relationship between the ‘latent’ and the ‘manifest’ features of Indian nationalism at any given point, always being characterized by a dyna¬mic which constitutes a single thread running throughout recent history.

As far as research in develop¬ment economics goes, the present Indian scene is quite dismal. There cannot be more than three or four economists working in this country who have had any impact on the subject. I shall refrain from mentioning their names, not because I do not wish to give joy to them, but precisely because I want to give joy to many more.

This book constitutes the first part of a two-volume study. Banerji is one of the few scholars who have tried to see health-related behavior and health services in the wider framework of the economic, political, demographic and social characteristics of rural populations.

Rarely in recent memory have information, ideas and scholarly acumen of such a high calibre been presented as in these two volumes. Professor Chattopadhyaya deserves ad¬ditional credit for having brought together papers that were published as early as the eighteenth century and there¬fore likely to be missed by most contemporary scholars.

‘Social Anthropology is concerned not with stones and bones but rather Marx and Spencer’—Isaac Schapera’s comment comes to one’s mind when reading Arjun Appadorai’s book since he is also an anthropologist with a differ¬ence. In his introduction, the author calls himself an ethno-historian and clarifies his fundamental differences with the functionalist school of Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown who regard social struc¬ture as a mere mirror-image of culture which is defined as a set of established customs and usages.

The initial attraction of a reader to this book is its cover. The symbol of the undying Pax Britannica—the arro¬gant image of the lion trium¬phantly astride the globe, an unfurled Union Jack, backed by the imperial crown domi¬nates the front flap, announc¬ing the Spectacle of the Empire. And rarely has a title so suited the contents of a book. The varied collection of paintings and photographs, many of which have not been published before, bring alive a variety of imperial themes virtually transporting the reader back to the turn of the century when the empire was a vibrant I reality.