Professor Chilcote offers a critical assessment and clarification of the diverse and often obscure literature and ideas on development and underdevelopment. Examining the origins and evolution of major theories, he first considers the importance of classical writers, especially Marx, Lenin and Trotsky, then emphasizes views formulated after the Second World War, distinguishing between views of nationalist development, internal colonialism and dependent capitalist development, on the one hand, and those of the new dependency, sub-imperialism, and the imperialism, on the other. In the final section of the book, new directions in development theory are identified, including theories of modes of production and the internationalization of capital. Professor Chilcote also provides a useful glossary of terms in the literature and a full bibliography of major contributions to theories of development and underdevelopment.