The School of Oriental and African Studies

Ian Brown was a postgraduate student at the School of Oriental and African Studies between 1968 and 1974, returning in 1979 as a lecturer on the economic history of South East Asia. He retired from the School in 2013 as Research Professor, having been Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities between 2007 and 2011. His major publications include The Elite and the Economy in Siam, c.1890-1920 (1988), Economic Change in South-East Asia, c.1830-1980 (1997) and Burma's Economy in the Twentieth Century (Cambridge, 2013).

• Introduction; 1. 'Long contemplated and too long delayed': the founding of the School; 2. 'Partly a research institution and partly a vocational training centre': 1917–38; 3. The war years, 1939–45; 4. The great post-war expansion; 5. Expansion into the social sciences; 6. The great contraction; 7. The 1990s: renewed expansion but unresolved issues; 8. The past in the present; Bibliography; Index.

'Insightful, empathetic, and wryly amusing, Brown provides a magisterial account of one of the UK's most idiosyncratic academic institutions. In surveying a century of opportunity and uncertainty, he unfolds a compelling tale of leadership, scholarship, and quirkiness set amidst troubled times, educational upheaval, and a wavering sense of national need.' David Arnold, University of Warwick