Offers an introduction to the growth area of colonial and postcolonial writing in English. This book combines a contextualising narrative situating key developments in imperial and postcolonial history, with theoretical readings of key texts that illuminate important concepts and definitions, including 'writing back' and 'mimicry'.

Introduction ; 1. Imperialism and Textuality ; 2. Colonialist Concerns ; 3. The Stirrings of New Nationalism ; 4. Metropolitans and Mimics ; 5. Independence ; 6. Postcolonialism ; 7. Transitional futures: the postcolonial book and the global world ; Chronology of key events and publications ; Notes ; Further reading ; Index

`Review from previous edition I imagine the book will continue to be an important resource for many years.' Durrant `One of the best introductions to colonialism and literature I have ever read...I urge Oxford University Press to produce a second edition of Colonial and Postcolonial Literature....As a literary history of postcolonialism, it has no equal.' Zwicker `A well-organized, accessible, and tightly-constructed text that reads very well and gives one both coverage and a sense of historical depth.' Ghosh

As a critical overview of colonial writing and of postcolonialism, this title remains unparalleled for its historical breadth and the clarity of its theoretical discussion. Ten years after first publication it continues to be prescribed on undergraduate and MA courses around the world and has helped to establish and define the postcolonial field. The expanded and revised edition will confirm this standing. An accessible historical narrative (backed up by a useful Chronology, 1719-2003) situates key colonial and postcolonial developments, texts and cultural figures, from Joseph Conrad and R. L. Stevenson, through to Salman Rushdie and Manju Kapur. In a notoriously complex field, important theoretical terms and issues are illuminated by way of close readings of key texts, but without ever losing subtlety in favour of accessibility. The updated, fully annotated bibliography comprises a uniquely valuable teaching tool. An expanded final chapter and conclusion explore the challenges facing postcolonial studies in the twenty-first century.

Elleke Boehmer is the Chair of Colonial and Postcolonial Studies in the Department of English and Media at Nottingham Trent University, and Director of the NTU Centre for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies. She has published Empire Writing (Oxford World's Classics, 1998), Empire, the National and the Postcolonial (2002), and critical editions of Robert Baden Powell's Scouting for Boys (2004) and Cornelia Sorabji's India Calling (2004).

As a critical overview of colonial writing and of postcolonialism, this title remains unparalleled for its historical breadth and the clarity of its theoretical discussion. Ten years after first publication it continues to be prescribed on undergraduate and MA courses around the world and has helped to establish and define the postcolonial field. The expanded and revised edition will confirm this standing. An accessible historical narrative (backed up by a useful Chronology, 1719-2003) situates key colonial and postcolonial developments, texts and cultural figures, from Joseph Conrad and R. L. Stevenson, through to Salman Rushdie and Manju Kapur. In a notoriously complex field, important theoretical terms and issues are illuminated by way of close readings of key texts, but without ever losing subtlety in favour of accessibility. The updated, fully annotated bibliography comprises a uniquely valuable teaching tool. An expanded final chapter and conclusion explore the challenges facing postcolonial studies in the twenty-first century.