Books published by C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd

Seventy years on, the Partition of India fades from memory. Can it be restored?

Many people today have never heard of the Comoros, but these islands were once part of a prosperous economic system that stretched halfway around the world. A key node in the trading networks of the Indian Ocean, the Comoros thrived by exchanging slaves and commodities with African, Arab and Indian merchants. By the seventeenth century, the archipelago had become an important supply point on the route from Europe to Asia, and developed a special relationship with the English.The twentieth century brought French colonial rule and a plantation economy based on perfumes and spices. In 1975, following decades of neglect, the Comoros declared independence from France, only to be blighted by a series of coups, a radical revolutionary government and a mercenary regime. Today, the island nation suffers chronic mismanagement and relies on foreign aid and remittances from a diasporic community in France. Nonetheless, the Comoros are largely peaceful and culturally vibrant--connected to the outside world in the internet age, but, at the same time, still slightly apart.Iain Walker traces the history and unique culture of these enigmatic islands, from their first settlement by Africans, Arabs and Austronesians, through their heyday within the greater Swahili world and their decline as a forgotten outpost of the French colonial empire, to their contemporary status as an independent state in the Indian OceanΓÇï.

Democracy Works asks how we can learn to nurture, deepen and consolidate democracy in Africa. By analysing transitions within and beyond the continent, the authors identify a ''democratic playbook'' robust enough to withstand threats to free and fair elections. However, substantive democracy demands more than just regular polls. It is fundamentally about the inner workings of institutions, the rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances, and leadership in government and civil society. It is also about values and the welfare and well-being of its citizens, and demands local leadership with a plan for the country beyond simply winning the popular vote. This volume addresses the political, economic and extreme demographic challenges that Africa faces. It is intended as a resource for members of civil society and as a guide for all who seek to enjoy the political and development benefits of democracy in the world''s poorest continent. Finally, it is for donors and external actors who have to face critical decisionsΓÇôΓÇôespecially after ill-fated electoral interventions such as Kenya 2017ΓÇôΓÇôabout the future of observer missions and aid promoting democracy and good governance.

This landmark volume presents vivid and intimate portraits of Palestinian Presidents Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, revealing the impact these different personalities have had on the struggle for national self-determination. Arafat and Abbas lived in Palestine as young children. Uprooted by the 1948 war, they returned in 1994 to serve as the first and second presidents of the Palestinian Authority, the establishment of which has been the Palestine Liberation Organization''s greatest step towards self-determination for the Palestinian nation. Both Arafat and Abbas were shaped by earlier careers in the PLO, and each adopted their own controversial leadership methods and decision-making styles. Drawing on primary sources in Arabic, Hebrew and English, Klein gives special attention to the lesser known Abbas: his beliefs and his disagreements with Israeli and American counterparts. The book uncovers new details about Abbas'' peace talks and US foreign policy towards Palestine, and analyses the political evolution of Hamas and Abbas'' succession struggle. Klein also highlights the tension between the ageing leader and his society.''Arafat and Abbas'' offers a comprehensive and balanced account of the Palestinian Authority''s achievements and failures over its twenty-five years of existence. What emerges is a Palestinian nationalism that refuses to disappear.

Eleftherios Venizelos (1864ΓÇô1936) was the outstanding Greek statesman of the first half of the twentieth century. Michael Llewellyn-Smith traces his early years, political apprenticeship in Crete, and energetic role in that island''s emancipation from both Ottoman rule and the arbitrary rule of Prince George of Greece. Summoned to Athens in 1910 by a cabal of officers, Venizelos mastered the Greek political scene, sent the military back to barracks, and led the country through a glorious period of constitutional and political reform, ending in a Balkan alliance waging successful war against Ottoman rule in Europe. By 1914, Greece had doubled in territory and population, and was about to face the challenges of European war. Tensions were rising between the king and the prime minister, foreshadowing political schism. This book illuminates Venizelos'' political mastery, liberalism and nationalism, and traces his fateful friendship with David Lloyd George. A second volume will complete his story, with the Great War, the post-war peace settlement, Greece''s Asia Minor disaster, and Venizelos'' late years of renewed prime ministerial office, political polarisation and exile in Paris.

The global financial sector is increasingly vulnerable to penetration by criminal money-launderers, terrorist financiers, and proliferators of weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, it offers  instruments that can be usefully employed to pursue foreign and security policy objectives. It is thus hardly surprising that finance has emerged as an arena of intense competition, if not conflict, between those seeking to exploit or attack this vital element of state power and those tasked with defending its integrity or harnessing it for legal purposes. Navias assesses the key threats to financial systems and shows how the public and private sectors are co-operating to contain them. He analyses the main characteristics of criminal money-laundering and terrorist financing, and reviews major multilateral and national regimes locked in the perpetual battle to shore up the financial sector against these constantly evolving security challenges. He also considers the uses of finance in support of key sanctions, counter-proliferation, and arms embargo policies. Uniquely, Finance and Security views these financial threats and weapons through a security and war studies prism. It will be equally invaluable to scholars of security and international relations and to professionals working in the legal, banking and compliance professions.

How does one navigate the rich cultural and political geography of West Africa? Mapping the diverse manifestations of Islamic influence, this issue of Critical Muslim brings together the resplendent but manifold articulations of Muslim and African identity. From the forest Kingdom of precolonial Ashanti to the cultural theatres of free and independent Senegal, Islam astounds nobility and flirts with creativity. A human story of struggle, living, belonging, and daring unfolds. About Critical Muslim: A quarterly publication of ideas and issues showcasing groundbreaking thinking on Islam and what it means to be a Muslim in a rapidly changing, interconnected world. Each edition centers on a discrete theme, and contributions include reportage, academic analysis, cultural commentary, photography, poetry, and book reviews.

A rich exploration of the unexpected online worlds of British Muslims.

A smart and lively journey through a century of pandemics, from the Spanish flu to Zika.

Exposes the secret global network that profited from apartheid.

A dramatic and intimate portrait of one of the world's great cities.

An impassioned and biting critique of the failure of American liberalism.

Englishness is an idea, a consciousness and a proto-nationalism. There is no English state within the United Kingdom, no English passport, Parliament or currency, nor any immediate prospect of any. That does not mean that England lacks an identity, although English nationalism, or at least a distinctive nationalism, has been partly forced upon the English by the development in the British Isles of strident nationalisms that have contested Britishness, and with much success. So what is happening to the United Kingdom, and, within that, to England? Jeremy Black looks to the past in order to understand the historical identity of England, and what it means for English nationalism today, in a post-Brexit world. The extent to which English nationalism has a "deep history" is a matter of controversy, although he seeks to demonstrate that it exists, from 'the Old English State' onwards, predating the Norman invasion. He also questions whether the standard modern critique of politically partisan, or un-British, Englishness as "extreme" is merited? Indeed, is hostility to "England," whatever that is supposed to mean, the principal driver of resurgent English nationalism? The Brexit referendum of 2016 appeared to have cancelled out Scottish and other nationalisms as an issue, but, in practice, it made Englishness a topic of particular interest and urgency, as set out in this short history of its origins and evolution.

A vibrant narrative of India's magical traditions and their journey across the world. A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018

In this revealing and engrossing book, Michel Eltchaninoff offers answers to an urgent question for our 21st century world: what is Vladimir Putin thinking?

What are values and how do we define them? Are there specific Islamic values? Do universal core values exist? How do we pass on appropriate values to future generations? This issue of Critical Muslim tackles these questions.

What is halal? Does Islam have a particular flavour? Is culture transferred through gastronomy? In this issue we resist intoxication by wine and soberly sample the culinary delights of the Muslim world-then and now.

An unsparing and revealing portrayal of Somalia, from the Siad Barre decades to Al-Shabaab, seen through the eyes of 'Tarzan', a formidable Mogadishu politician.