Book excerpt: Documenting major intellectual and paradigmatic changes in the field of comparative education in the light of the history and development of the journal Comparative Education, this book compiles a selection of articles from forty years of the journal’s distinguished history. It illustrates how changing times have been reflected in the nature and quality of published comparative research. Contributors explore the impact of key issues such as marketisation, accountability and globalisation upon policy and practice world-wide. They explore how new challenges faced by the social sciences have seen shifts in the contexts, issues and priorities attended to by comparatives and how different approaches to comparative education have influenced the intellectual and professional identities and positioning of those involved. Bridging theoretically oriented scholarship with empirically grounded research relating to issues of policy and practice and with chapters addressing questions of relevance throughout the world, this book is an invaluable resource of ideas and stimuli for further thinking and research.