Authors say Bank Slights Own History

An official, independent tome on the first 50 years of the World Bank, a crucial player in international economic development, should be a very big deal.

At least, those involved in the publication of The World Bank: Its First Half Century, the Brookings Institution and the bank itself; are united in this assessment.

But six months after the book's publication, the book's authors are worried the bank and Brookings are not matching their words with actions.

The three co-writers, Assistant professor of Government Devesh Kapur, former dean of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School John Lewis and Peruvian economist Richard Webb, feel they and their work have been overlooked.

"It baffles[us]," Kapur said.

Kapur said no press conference was held for this book, which, he added : was easily the most ambitious in scope [of recent years]."

An editorial in the March 23 issue of The Nation, written by the publication's contributing editor Max Holland, revealed the extent of Kapur's frustration.

The editorial alleged that after authorizing and helping underwrite costs of over $2 million for the research, the bank has been treating the book with "not-so-benign neglect."

According to Holland, the bank has done "a miserable job" of publishing the two-volume book.

"The authors haven't been invited for talks, there hasn't even been an internal e-mail message informing [the bank's] employees about the book," Holland said.

The mystery lies, however, in explaining the bank's purported behavior.

David Theis, a spokesperson for the bank, said his organization tried its best to publicize the book. However, Theis said, efforts have been stymied because of limits on its budget, and the fact that the book came out while the bank was having is annual meeting in Hong Kong.

Thies noted the book has sold out at the bank's own bookstore.

Kapur, however, said this was not enough, and insisted the bank could have publicized the book given the tens of millions of dollars it spends on public relations each year.

According to Kapur, the bank is not interested in a book which he said is at times critical of its past actions.

Another source of bitterness for Kapur is the fact that many college libraries in his native India will be unable to buy the book.

Kapur said after publishing the book, Brookings priced the book out of the reach developing countries--many of whom are served by the bank.

However, Robert L. Faherty, director of the Brookings Institution Press, said there was little flexibility in setting a price.

"I can sympathize with the authors, but the book was very expensive to publish," he said of the 2,000 pages of World Bank history

Kapur said after publishing the book, Brookings priced the book out of the reach developing countries--many of whom are served by the bank.

However, Robert L. Faherty, director of the Brookings Institution Press, said there was little flexibility in setting a price.

"I can sympathize with the authors, but the book was very expensive to publish," he said of the 2,000 pages of World Bank history