International Students 1860–2010: Policy and Practice round the World by Hilary Perraton (review)

This deeply researched account of the history of policy and practice regarding international students from the mid-nineteenth century provides a welcome addition to the scholarship on international education. Its distinctiveness lies in three key aspects that have tended to be, if not ignored, certainly downplayed in the dominant research themes in this field.

It is separated into two halves; the first deals with the chronological history of international students, with each chapter comprising a narrative that focuses on a specific period of change from the mid-nineteenth century onward. The second half addresses specific themes of interest that cut across those historical accounts and serve to highlight key commonalities and comparisons. As a result, the first half of the book concentrates on what the author sees as the origins of students traveling internationally for educational purposes prior to the Great War, the period of change between the two world wars, the rapid rise in international education as result of the global shifts generated by the end of World War II, and the impact of contemporary globalization on the field of international education. In many ways, the themes chosen by the author as the basis of the second half of the book can be seen as reflecting the dominance of his intellectual and conceptual base; that is, a Euro-American or Western perspective. This is reflected in chapters that address international education in the context of imperial India, the role of the United States and its competition with the Soviet bloc during the Cold War, international education based on military exchange, and the ongoing debate over the costs of international education, who should fund it, and the benefits that such investments might generate.

Second, although the discussion of policy and practice is dominated by a Euro-American focus, it attempts to be truly global in its treatment with the inclusion of specific sections dealing with regions that are often de-emphasized in global studies of this nature—for example, Russia, China, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. Third, and perhaps most significantly, the author builds his description and analysis of policy and practice upon intensive research into the historical documentation of international students in the geographical regions that are the structural center of the book, rather than focusing more generally on the traditional area of international education.

These three characteristics alone mean that it is a worthwhile addition to any institutional or personal library concerned with international education. However, there are also certain aspects of the book's approach that need to be borne in mind in evaluating its specific relevance or value to a particular project. Unfortunately, but also unavoidably, the book finishes its analysis in 2010 and is therefore not able to take into account the dramatic impacts of the current global pandemic on the patterns of international students, during which there have been some salient differences between main host countries than might have existed previously. Nevertheless, the sequence of historical narratives offered serves the important purpose of establishing that, contrary to the beliefs of many, both within and outside the research community, international education has tended to be a phenomenon that has primarily come of age since the 1950s. Another facet relates to the depth of research that is included within the book. At times, the density of the minutiae included in terms of statistics—such as in the details of origins of international students over time or the relative hierarchy of countries hosting international students—detracts from what is otherwise a very readable and accessible book. In addition, some of the detailed tables of statistics that are included could have been used more effectively in a particular description or analysis; future editions might consider the inclusion of such data as an appendix rather than including it in the main text.

There are also some conceptual decisions that bear some further discussion and justification. In all respects, the book very...