While studying in Nigeria as an undergraduate, Shobana Shankar heard the local people tell tales about the British that echoed the stories her parents and grandparents told her while growing up in India. "I had always known that we people whose ancestors experienced European colonialism shared a bond, even if colonialism seemed to be a thing of the past," said Shankar, an assistant professor in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences. "But I got so many questions from my hosts about Hinduism, the caste system, poverty and the condition of women in India, that I came to realize that a sense of solidarity did not mean being the same. In fact, I was often reminded of my difference, which was a good kind of discomfort in that inspired my curiosity to consider more deeply how complicated African-Asian relationships really are." In her recently published book, An Uneasy Embrace (Oxford University Press), Shankar tackles the controversial question o