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aaditya_jain482's review against another edition
4.0
Short review: an eye opening account of rapacious ransacking of India at the hands of apathetic Britons with the soul objective of extracting maximum profit, presented in the form of counter argument to any notion of "The benign Empire"
Long review:
Though the evils of the "Raj" are tought in school, by the time history is no longer compulsory in syllabus its malice is oftern forgotten partially by the anglophilic tendencies if not for shoddy understanding and no incentive to learn in the first place.
The book as Tharoor stated in the preface "somewhat unusually, began as a speech." The very same one that sparked an interest in the history of British Raj for many of my age, for the first time.
Tharoor delves into detailed account through excerpts from conversation and speeches in house of common by brits themselves, exposing the horrors of raj which even made some conservatives amoung them uneasy.
The first couple of chapters cover the systematic deindustrialization of india through destroying the flourishing weaving industry in order to promote British exports to india pushing more indian to agriculture leading to over-dependence on land and its unsustainable exploitation. A similar story follows for the ship building industry and relatively inexpensive indian seamen and crew which were intentionally destroyed via compulsory white crew and British licensed vessels exclusive maritime routes.
The utter missmanagment by which the empire was run in india to such a degree that it become directly responsible for several disease outbreaks, Drainage of wealth at the end of which awaited economic stagnantion and most notouriously Famines!, this is evident by the endictment by many englishmen themselves; Lord Macaulay-"the misgovernment of the english was carried to such a point as seemed icompatible with the existence of society..." adding that whereas evil regimes could be overthrown by oppressed people, the english were not so easily dislodged. it goes on the show that famines and its casualties were directly a result to British policies by blocking aid and staying indolent in order to 'not interfere with the markets' wile making sure that the bread baskets of britain are full while using concepts like that of malthusian and victorian concepts of 'charity leads to idleness' the famines were not caused by shortage of food but rather economic policies that made it unaffordable for the poor, and when the british finally decided to act it was with work camps 'to allow the starving to work for food'.
The following chapters are dedicated to dislodge the intuition the the empire imparted unity, democracy and rule of law to india. the british zest to find social hierarchy in india parallel to those at home led to enforcement of such social order that was irrelevent hitherto by the interpreter class that placed itself at the helm of the deviced social order, democracy was imparted through terror and arbitrary incarceration, deliberate attempt to Divide Et Imperia were framed in policies and the equality before law did not apply to people of different colour.
The book further dealths with the aspects generally taken to be as 'for the benifit of the people' like Railways and English language showing how railways were only meant for the profits of britons as cost of constructing them (which were paid through taxes from india) were ten times higher than the contemporary world and in contrast to the world which charged more money for transporting goods in order to make travelling cheaper for people the opposite was true for india in order to make getting raw material out of india cheaper. Education in English or its use by masses was also not an intended effect but rather it was to create an intermediate class.
The book is an excellent eye opener of the nature of the colonial experience in india though the author explicitly states that he doesn't blame brits for all the issues ailing india till date while reading history one cannot help but trace them back into the days of the 'glorious' empire or its immediate aftermath.
Its an absolutely great book which keeps the readers hooked and the only reason i refrained from giving it a five star is some unnecessary bits of current politics that feels pushed and more of intended for petty political gains to an extent, afterall the author is a politician with affiliation to a particular party, but these bits are numbered and can be ignored by someone with a rational mind.
Long review:
Though the evils of the "Raj" are tought in school, by the time history is no longer compulsory in syllabus its malice is oftern forgotten partially by the anglophilic tendencies if not for shoddy understanding and no incentive to learn in the first place.
The book as Tharoor stated in the preface "somewhat unusually, began as a speech." The very same one that sparked an interest in the history of British Raj for many of my age, for the first time.
Tharoor delves into detailed account through excerpts from conversation and speeches in house of common by brits themselves, exposing the horrors of raj which even made some conservatives amoung them uneasy.
The first couple of chapters cover the systematic deindustrialization of india through destroying the flourishing weaving industry in order to promote British exports to india pushing more indian to agriculture leading to over-dependence on land and its unsustainable exploitation. A similar story follows for the ship building industry and relatively inexpensive indian seamen and crew which were intentionally destroyed via compulsory white crew and British licensed vessels exclusive maritime routes.
The utter missmanagment by which the empire was run in india to such a degree that it become directly responsible for several disease outbreaks, Drainage of wealth at the end of which awaited economic stagnantion and most notouriously Famines!, this is evident by the endictment by many englishmen themselves; Lord Macaulay-"the misgovernment of the english was carried to such a point as seemed icompatible with the existence of society..." adding that whereas evil regimes could be overthrown by oppressed people, the english were not so easily dislodged. it goes on the show that famines and its casualties were directly a result to British policies by blocking aid and staying indolent in order to 'not interfere with the markets' wile making sure that the bread baskets of britain are full while using concepts like that of malthusian and victorian concepts of 'charity leads to idleness' the famines were not caused by shortage of food but rather economic policies that made it unaffordable for the poor, and when the british finally decided to act it was with work camps 'to allow the starving to work for food'.
The following chapters are dedicated to dislodge the intuition the the empire imparted unity, democracy and rule of law to india. the british zest to find social hierarchy in india parallel to those at home led to enforcement of such social order that was irrelevent hitherto by the interpreter class that placed itself at the helm of the deviced social order, democracy was imparted through terror and arbitrary incarceration, deliberate attempt to Divide Et Imperia were framed in policies and the equality before law did not apply to people of different colour.
The book further dealths with the aspects generally taken to be as 'for the benifit of the people' like Railways and English language showing how railways were only meant for the profits of britons as cost of constructing them (which were paid through taxes from india) were ten times higher than the contemporary world and in contrast to the world which charged more money for transporting goods in order to make travelling cheaper for people the opposite was true for india in order to make getting raw material out of india cheaper. Education in English or its use by masses was also not an intended effect but rather it was to create an intermediate class.
The book is an excellent eye opener of the nature of the colonial experience in india though the author explicitly states that he doesn't blame brits for all the issues ailing india till date while reading history one cannot help but trace them back into the days of the 'glorious' empire or its immediate aftermath.
Its an absolutely great book which keeps the readers hooked and the only reason i refrained from giving it a five star is some unnecessary bits of current politics that feels pushed and more of intended for petty political gains to an extent, afterall the author is a politician with affiliation to a particular party, but these bits are numbered and can be ignored by someone with a rational mind.
mk228's review against another edition
Exceptional research by Mr. Tharoor. It's an eye opener.
rosieclaverton's review against another edition
5.0
This book should be compulsory reading for every Brit, particularly any flag-waving colonial apologists. I consider myself a well-educated woman and yet I had only heard of a small fraction of the events harrowingly described in this book. It made me righteously angry at every moment - except the bit about cricket, admittedly - and it is a travesty that the realities of Empire aren't taught in schools.
I enjoyed the audiobook version, as read by the author, and I think that his narration does bring the sometimes fact-laden text to life.
I enjoyed the audiobook version, as read by the author, and I think that his narration does bring the sometimes fact-laden text to life.
moomoocows's review against another edition
3.0
As a polemic, this book really does deliver. It has ample evidence and eloquent yet cogent rhetorical prose that far bests any account from Empire apologists I have read/ watched. However, as a historical text (if we were to assume the aim would be to present as accurate a picture as possible of the British Raj), this book does not hold up as well. In particular, Tharoor's penchant for moral vitriol and over-reliance on older polemics throws into question the veracity of his arguments. Nevertheless, I found myself enjoying this book overall, and would like to re-read it someday to pick up on aspects I undoubtedly would have missed on the first read.
genizah's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.25
Tharoor clearly states that he's not writing a history, but he doesn't quite hit polemic either. Instead, this is more like a heavily annotated bibliography (or an undergraduate thesis, if you're feeling uncharitable). It's quite a good summary of quotations and citations from both primary and secondary sources (especially contemporary Western anti-imperialists), and you don't need a particularly subtle argument to arrive at the conclusion that the British Empire was bad for India. However, the only topics on which Tharoor seems to have his own strong opinions are 1) ways the Indian National Congress screwed up during and after WWII, and 2) cricket.
On a personal note, while I understand why the book is arranged thematically rather than chronologically, I wish there had been some introductory explanation of the colonial financial structure under both the Company and the Raj. I felt this lack particularly in the first section, which is full of sentences that begin "The Indian Government paid for..." with the assumption that the reader will know what that means in this context.
On a personal note, while I understand why the book is arranged thematically rather than chronologically, I wish there had been some introductory explanation of the colonial financial structure under both the Company and the Raj. I felt this lack particularly in the first section, which is full of sentences that begin "The Indian Government paid for..." with the assumption that the reader will know what that means in this context.