Man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God's face, and then descends from contemplating Him to scrutinize himself.

- John Calvin

In recent times, across the continents, the evolving knowledge-centric economies certainly draw strength from the above saying. They point out the need to study the historical and cultural past. We have enormous information and knowledge, but whether we have the wisdom to make use of such knowledge for the welfare of the mankind is a million dollar questiona question that haunts the minds of sensible individuals who always try to locate the current successes or failures of public governance in the past glory. In this context emerges the need for recapping the `intellectual history' of a country. We also find that `culture' influences policymakers' way of thinking and approaching an issue; it also restricts them and entrenches them within certain value systems, within which a political/economic policy is set. This issue focuses on the above phenomenon in the context of India and China. It also traces the economic transformation witnessed in East and Central European countries with an empirical narrative. It also captures how countries like India faced core economic grievances such as `famines' and how the `State' dealt with it. It serves us with the vital link to examine the pre-independent agrarian scenario prevalent in various `zamindaris'.

Day in and day out, people are talking about `knowledge' factor, which is responsible for revolutionizing the thought process, as an essential paradigm shift in the development strategies. At various points of time, the so-called gap between the Western and Eastern schools of thought in various domains has become a subject for an intellectual probe. Quest for knowledge-centered traditions rooted in the historical past attains logical support from the academia; this further enables one to understand the intellectual foundations of educational system developed at various points of time. Religious and cultural identities embarked upon by the ancient Indian thinkers need to be probed again drawing information from postmodern ideologies evolved by think tanks. Above all, philosophical speculations of thinkers of repute need to be redefined in the light of emerging schools of thought like postmodernism or globalization. The paper, "Knowledge-Centered tradition in India: From Ancient to Modern times," is a reflection of the above agenda. R P Singh did justice in projecting new light upon the philosophical wealth of our country. He opines that backed with a strong intellectual tradition, the knowledge wealth of our country can be best utilized for the benefit of humanity.

Political and economic-centered global histories tend to focus on, or even celebrate, certain set of values that prioritize measurement of wealth, material power, technological progress, and institutional efficiency of a culture. We contend that such parameters have carried within them certain innate methodological prejudices for the overall assessment of cultural achievement. Jerry C Y Liu's attempt to substantiate this viewpoint in the paper, "Does Culture Matter? The Logics and Counter-Logics of Culture in State Finance, Taxation and Tributary Trade Policies During the Ming Times c. 1370-1600", needs to be applauded by the Indian academia by undertaking similar studies in the Indian context.

The growing popularity of `market economy' in some parts of the world raises many concerns, as it is an emerging strand of thought process relating to modernization of economies in post-globalization. The transition of socialist East and Central European countries into `market economies', often identified as `capitalist' economies endears our academic interest to probe the undercurrents. Besides enriching our perspectives on the subject of world history, it immensely benefits the Third World countries in Asia Pacific in widening their economic outlook. H C Dan Popescu, in the paper, "The Transition of the East and Central European Countries to Market Economy: An Evolution at Dramatic Rates", deals with the subject in a more sophisticated fashion by bringing out the causation factors and the road blocks in the transition mode much to the enlightenment of laymen. The ideological experiments and the reactionary tendencies described in this context also add value to the theme generating a new awareness in the study of world history.

It is a phenomenal coincidence to find the evaluation of public policies followed in contemporary times when the study of economic history of pre-independence period is taking shape in a more concrete and purposeful format. The traditional pattern of historical research, which offers limited scope for perusal of socioeconomic policies the ruling dynasties pursued is done away with the emergence of a new breed of scholars who are evincing keen interest on issues relating to the agriculture system, industrial scenario and production-distribution mechanism evolved over a period of time. K S S Seshan, in the paper, "Famines and Famine Relief Measures in Punganur, an Andhra Zamindari During 1800-78", analyzes the effectiveness of public policies of Punganur zamindari in Andhra in tackling famines and gains more currency in this regard.

Professional historians engaged in brainstorming the phenomenon of `Eurocentric' perception of world history in recent times must read the book, Beyond Eurocentrism: A New View of Modern World History, by Peter Gran. The rationale behind getting the book reviewed, though it appears to be an old version, is to strike a balance in the ongoing debates on the Western-dominated World History and arguments countering it. The premise of the book is that the `Rise of the West' paradigm leads the researcher to give precedence to all things Western even to the point of imagining that the ordinary Westerner had more power than someone in a Third World ruling class. Given the changing nature of the United States' position in the world scenario over these years, the older assumptions seem more and more incongruous though they still dominate academic thought - `leftist' and `liberal'. The book makes several points about India, which we thought, would be of some interest to historians and social scientists. The book review has certainly captured this spirit. Sukumar Muralidharan has been able to do justice to the job with his critical acclaim of the findings of the book, which would generate an intellectual passion among scholars.

- Radha Mohan Chebolu
Consulting Editor