ABSTRACT
This chapter has a double identity. It can be read as a narration, like a story; though not as ‘a history.’ It identifies why and how the Yearbooks of Education began publication in the 1930s; when, why and how they were re-invented after the Second World War; and it gives examples of the topics chosen for analysis since then. Within that long time-frame, it notes briefly some of the major historical changes and shifts in world politics. The chapter can also be read as an analysis, shaped around and tracing the interaction of four themes: How was that changing world of politics and economics compressed into the WYBs? What assumptions about action on the world did the WYBs make? What kinds of ‘comparative education’ did they construct? In particular, in what ways did the WYBs, changing over time from the 1930s until now, emphasize nations as cultures, nations as nation-states and nationalisms and when and why did they do that – or not do it?
