This accessible book is a detailed critique of overseas aid between 1970 and 2010, and Bevan shows that many of the criticisms of the way aid funds are allocated and spent are still relevant today. Written from an agricultural perspective, the book is a critical review and analysis of a large number of aid projects. Chapters 1 and 2 are particularly useful in setting the scene and covering the theory and institutions involved, and Chapter 5 explains ‘what works and why’, which is particularly important for studies of development at GCSE, A-level and beyond. Students can engage in critical thinking in Chapters 3 and 4, where a wide range of case studies are critically examined. (You can be selective about which you present to students.) The book concludes with the likely effects of wider geopolitical forces on the future of aid. The underlying message is that aid delivery is a form of soft power that limits the ability of the development gap to be closed. 

China’s involvement in Africa is controversial. Highlighted as an example of investment to close the development gap at GCSE, students are introduced to the idea that China’s self-interest is being served as it changes from ‘benefactor to banker’. The book explains that ‘China is the lender of first resort for much of the developing world’, and delves into the history and current status of Chinese development finance. Chapter 6 explores its distribution, and Chapter 7 'Paving the Way to Growth and Development?' explores the socioeconomic impacts of Chinese investment. Students at A-level (and higher ability GCSE) can explore this chapter (and Chapter 8 'Poisonous Dragon Fruits') to conduct an independent enquiry into the extent to which Chinese investment can close the development gap. The enquiry can then be presented as an essay question of a 9-mark GCSE question (AO3).

This important book shows that the meaning of development has evolved beyond the simplicity of wealth, and to an extent health and education, and now includes consideration of the issues of gender, equity and wellbeing, and sustainability and environment. This is very well put in Chapter 1 in the section ‘The Meaning of "Development"’ and is an accessible read for GCSE and A-level students (or higher ability KS3). Chapter 4 ‘What Can be Done to Accelerate Development?’ is most relevant to closing the gap, where varying schools of thought are examined. Starting with modernisation theory, the chapter explores economic conditions necessary for countries to develop, as well as the 'state of the market’. Subsequent chapters build on this with aid, sustainability, and globalisation. Goldin provides a range of data tables that support students in analysing geographical information.

Essential reading for this topic, or indeed for Human Geography in general. This book is readable and accessible to GCSE students and higher ability KS3 students. It provides a sometimes humorous analysis of global development and how our pessimism about development is unjust. Roslin identifies many stages of development between the binary definitions that are used in the KS3 National Curriculum and GCSE, such as LIC and HIC, in terms of health, wealth and transport, and draws on a range of examples to support this. The book begins with a series of questions on development that are ideal to quiz a class with, before demonstrating how little we know. As one review states, ‘Hans Rosling tells the story of the “silent miracle of human progress”’. The book follows Rosling’s 2013 lecture entitled ‘Don’t Panic’, drawing on large data sets to make his points, and some Gap Minder charts are included in the book.   

Insights into how life in Mozambique has changed in the last 30 years.