‘Area studies’ developed later in Great Britain than in North America. The period of rapid growth began in 1962, as a result of a report by a government committee (the Hayter Committee) set up to consider the future of Oriental, Slavonic, East European and African studies. The report recommended that the government give special grants to encourage historians and social scientists to extend their interests and apply their methods to the world outside Western Europe, and to make possible the creation of a number of inter-disciplinary centres. The report was accepted and grants were given for these purposes until 1972. By that time there were approximately a dozen universities which had some kind of regular degree course in Arabic, Islamic or Middle Eastern studies, and a number of other universities and colleges where some teaching of these subjects took place. There was a growing demand for a professional association which would make it possible for those who taught and studied Middle Eastern subjects to discuss matters of common interest and to coordinate their work in what might well be a period of financial stringency. After long discussions between interested bodies, the Society was formally brought into existence at a meeting held in London in May 1973.