First published in 1967, Professor Bairoch’s Diagnostic de L’Evolution Economique du Tiers-Monde has gone into four editions, and has brought the author an international reputation.

This English translation is, in effect, another edition based on the latest French text but incorporating much which is not to be found there. The statistical tables have been revised and expanded wherever possible to include figures up to the end of 1972; the bibliography has been specially adapted to include the literature on the subject in the English language; and two new chapters have been written: Chapter 8 on ‘Urbanization’ and Chapter 9 on ‘The labour force and employment’.

It has been Professor Bairoch’s aim in this book to examine the development of under-developed countries (including China) during the present century and through the use of comparative statistics to formulate a diagnosis of their growth. His analysis includes, whenever relevant, a comparison between the present economic progress of Third World countries and that of the developed countries at the time of their ‘take off’. Special attention has also been given to China’s unique path of development.

In the course of his research the author has elaborated several new series. The production of these new series and their integration with existing data make this book a valuable quantitative economic history of the Third World.