Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India - Softcover

Tharoor, Shashi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1947534300 ISBN 13: 9781947534308

Publisher: Scribe Us, 2018

Synopsis

In the eighteenth century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannon, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalised racism, and caused millions to die from starvation.

British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial "gift"--from the railways to the rule of law--was designed in Britain's interests alone. He goes on to show how Britain's Industrial Revolution was founded on India's deindustrialization and the destruction of its textile industry. In this bold and incisive reassessment of colonialism, Tharoor exposes to devastating effect the inglorious reality of Britain's stained Indian legacy.

About this title

Review:

'Ferocious and astonishing. Essential for a Britain lost in sepia fantasies about its past, Inglorious Empire is history at its clearest and cutting best.'

--Ben Judah, author of This is London

'Tharoor convincingly demolishes some of the more persistent myths about Britain's supposedly civilizing mission in India ... [he] charts the destruction of pre-colonial systems of government by the British and their ubiquitous ledgers and rule books ... The statistics are worth repeating.'

--Victor Mallet "Financial Times "

'This book burns with the power of intellect married with conviction ... this is erudite, well-written, thoroughly documented and persuasive history that focuses varied sources into a coherent critique of colonialism in the Indian context. Tear up your copies of Ferguson's neo-liberal mind rot and get angry like Tharoor.'

--Christopher Kremmer "Sydney Morning Herald "

'Those Brits who speak confidently about how Britain's "historical and cultural ties" to India will make it easy to strike a great new trade deal should read Mr Tharoor's book. It would help them to see the world through the eyes of the ... countries once colonised or defeated by Britain.'

--Gideon Rachman "Financial Times "

'Rare indeed is it to come across history that is so readable and so persuasive.'

--Amitav Ghosh

'[A]t once a moral indictment and a moralistic polemic, both intended to expose the ''totally amoral, rapacious imperial machine'' the British devised to plunder India.'

--Mark Thomas "Canberra Times "

'Remarkable ... The book is savagely critical of 200 years of the British in India. It makes very uncomfortable reading for Brits.'

--Matt Ridley "The Times "

'Brilliant ... A searing indictment of the Raj and its impact on India. ... Required reading for all Anglophiles in former British colonies, and needs to be a textbook in Britain.'

--Salil Tripathi, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International, and author of The Colonel Who Would Not Repent

'Tharoor's book -- arising from a contentious Oxford Union debate in 2015 where he proposed the motion "Britain owes reparations to her former colonies" -- should keep the home fires burning, so to speak, both in India and in Britain ... He makes a persuasive case, with telling examples.'

--History Today

'His writing is a delight and he seldom misses his target ... Tharoor should be applauded for tackling an impossibly contentious subject ... he deserves to be read. Indians are not the only ones who need reminding that empire has a lot to answer for.'

--Literary Review

About the Author:

Shashi Tharoor served for twenty-nine years at the UN, culminating as Under-Secretary-General. He is a Congress MP in India, the author of fourteen previous books, and has won numerous literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Tharoor has a PhD from the Fletcher School, and was named by the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1998 as a Global Leader of Tomorrow.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribe Us
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1947534300
• ISBN 13: 9781947534308
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336