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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
Celebrating 75 glorious years of Indian Independence by learning more about Indian History. Having born after more than 2 generations after India became independent, most of us have taken this liberty for granted. I am ashamed to say that I didn't know most of our dark past. We were forced to memorize some dates like the battle of Plassey, battle of Buxar, Simon commission etc, in school and regurgigate them in the exams (Another bane of the British system of education) but never really learned much.
Shashi Tharoor helps to clear up this ignorance through this well articulated book, backed with sufficient data and statistics. I have highlighted so many passages in this book that the pages look yellow.
Tharoor tears apart every argument of the Raj-apologists. I was appalled to read about the racist attitude of some of the noted British like Churchill, Curzon, Clive, Dyer, Rudyard Kipling who were/ are still hailed as heroes.
The details of horrors committed on the native Indians by the colonists doesnt make it a easy read. The Jallianwallahbagh massacre, the devastation during the Bengal famine made me sad and angry. I had known about the great famine in Bengal that killed millions but just assumed it was because of shortage of food. This was an eyeopener where he tells there was no shortage. Grains were exported to England and the soldiers well fed, and even to topup European stockpiles in Greece. The poor farmers still had to pay the taxes and had nothing to feed on. Churchill tells "the starvation of anyway underfed Bengalis is less serious than that of sturdy Greeks" and "....why hasn't Gandhi died yet (in the famine)"
We look back with horror about the Ukranian famine but how many of us know about the Bengali famine?
Their greedy devastation of the forests to grow tea and opium and the destruction of wildlife (tigers and leapords became almost extinct).
Though this book is not comprehensive, Tharoor provides the relevant information and background on how these incidents in the past shaped the India of today. For e.g The snooping incident of the 'Amrit Bazaar Patrika' had a major role in Kashmir becoming a part of India.
This book is a must read for all and particularly for every Indian.
Shashi Tharoor helps to clear up this ignorance through this well articulated book, backed with sufficient data and statistics. I have highlighted so many passages in this book that the pages look yellow.
Tharoor tears apart every argument of the Raj-apologists. I was appalled to read about the racist attitude of some of the noted British like Churchill, Curzon, Clive, Dyer, Rudyard Kipling who were/ are still hailed as heroes.
The details of horrors committed on the native Indians by the colonists doesnt make it a easy read. The Jallianwallahbagh massacre, the devastation during the Bengal famine made me sad and angry. I had known about the great famine in Bengal that killed millions but just assumed it was because of shortage of food. This was an eyeopener where he tells there was no shortage. Grains were exported to England and the soldiers well fed, and even to topup European stockpiles in Greece. The poor farmers still had to pay the taxes and had nothing to feed on. Churchill tells "the starvation of anyway underfed Bengalis is less serious than that of sturdy Greeks" and "....why hasn't Gandhi died yet (in the famine)"
We look back with horror about the Ukranian famine but how many of us know about the Bengali famine?
Their greedy devastation of the forests to grow tea and opium and the destruction of wildlife (tigers and leapords became almost extinct).
Though this book is not comprehensive, Tharoor provides the relevant information and background on how these incidents in the past shaped the India of today. For e.g The snooping incident of the 'Amrit Bazaar Patrika' had a major role in Kashmir becoming a part of India.
This book is a must read for all and particularly for every Indian.
This is a good book that details British's cruelty towards India. I'm not too much of a fan of Ghandi though and the author made him sound like a much better person than who he was
dark
informative
medium-paced
An infuriating and well-written and well researched book. I wish everyone could read it, and stop glamourizing the British. People say "oh, but this good came out of colonization and this..." No. Colonization caused immeasurable harm to a country, its people, and environment. The result of British policies included rape, mass forced migration, forced labour, and famine. Stolen resources and stolen life funded England and left India to suffer. History should be studied so that we learn from it, but in schools it often keeps hidden behind shame and propaganda.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
slow-paced
Another one of those valuable books that gives a great account about colonialism.
While this book started from a talk about why Britain should pay reparation, the author included so much more and even retracted from the black and white statement on the question of reparation.
In fact, the book is so much more. It talks about pre-colonial India and how the Brits disturbed it, re-organized it and then extracted, extracted, extracted. It shows how little the colonisers cared about the people and its customs and cultures.
I find it so sad that so much knowledge and artifacts have gone missing just because of colonialism.
There is a lot of good stuff in the book, even for people not just specifically interested in India. The author also compares to other colonial powers and oppressors.
After the introduction, it got a little boring for some time, but I really liked the second half.
I learned so much!
While this book started from a talk about why Britain should pay reparation, the author included so much more and even retracted from the black and white statement on the question of reparation.
In fact, the book is so much more. It talks about pre-colonial India and how the Brits disturbed it, re-organized it and then extracted, extracted, extracted. It shows how little the colonisers cared about the people and its customs and cultures.
I find it so sad that so much knowledge and artifacts have gone missing just because of colonialism.
There is a lot of good stuff in the book, even for people not just specifically interested in India. The author also compares to other colonial powers and oppressors.
After the introduction, it got a little boring for some time, but I really liked the second half.
I learned so much!
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
Great story telling of English colonialism and imperialism in India, from the East Indja Company to the Crown to Independence. Grateful to have learned so much!
Tharoor asks and answers great questions throughout, and offers thoughtful insight to the question of reparations for India and other colonized people and lands.
4 stars because I did find the repetitive nature of some points or evidence to surpass the necessary amounts of reiteration as a reader, and the argumentation occasionally felt loose, despite me being in full agreement with his overall thesis.
Tharoor asks and answers great questions throughout, and offers thoughtful insight to the question of reparations for India and other colonized people and lands.
4 stars because I did find the repetitive nature of some points or evidence to surpass the necessary amounts of reiteration as a reader, and the argumentation occasionally felt loose, despite me being in full agreement with his overall thesis.
I can’t explain how much this book taught me - it made me so angry at points but it was necessary to learn. This is essential reading fr
informative
History belongs in the past; but understanding it is the duty of the present.
Growing up in India, my education included the colonial history of the subcontinent, but Shashi Tharoor still added to my knowledge (especially by citing British perspectives of the time) and emphasized the horrors of the empire. This book is mostly on economics -- inevitable given that the colonial project in India was extractive, an exploitation of resources and labor. However, he also discusses the development of railways, the education system, the parliamentary government, and the evolution of the caste systems and religious divisions under British rule. Here, I was surprised by the history of English education in India and the roles of examinations and rote memorization, means of "learning" that hold the utmost value in Indian pedagogy even today. I also appreciated the accounts of Englishmen "going Native" and the complicated relationships we have with the colonial remnants of cricket and tea-drinking.
I didn't love how the most criticism Tharoor dispenses about Gandhi is that he was “eccentric.” Sure, that isn't the point of this book, and certainly, Gandhi was a key figure in the movement for Indian independence. And Tharoor does admit that Gandhism is not as applicable to other struggles for freedom or independence across cultures and contexts. Yet, Gandhi is consistently hailed as a pinnacle of moral superiority here, and I would be remiss if I didn’t note that Tharoor’s absolute admiration made me cringe, with a retrospective understanding of Gandhi’s misogyny, racism, and downright abusive views and actions.
Inglorious Empire is heavy, detailing immense violence, and spanning vast geopolitics and periods. It's hardly perfect, but is as comprehensive as can be in about 300 pages. And I will note here that my knowledge of Tharoor's politics and track record as a politician is limited beyond views on the British Raj, though I am aware he is highly educated and has experience in public service and international affairs. But I would recommend this to everyone to understand just how the British Raj functioned and its lasting impacts.
Tharoor offers a broad scope of much untalked about colonial history in India. My eyes have been widened to see more of the damage done in the pursuit of empire. It is a sobering and informative read that puts the British Raj into perspective, allowing us to see it for what it is and not as Chinese whispers and myth let us believe. As with any broad topic, Tharoor cannot cover every aspect of British life in India, but he does touch upon some important points that illustrate the vivid reality of empire. Tharoor doesn't shy away from some positives of the empire, although understandably doesn't dwell on them too long. Overall I see it as an eye-opening read, and I don't think I can look at the myth of the British Empire in the same way again.