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dennisfischman 's review for:
Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India
by Shashi Tharoor
I have been, until recently, shamefully ignorant about the history of India before, during, or after British colonialism. Reading this book is a step in the direction of repairing that ignorance. I must say, however, that no matter how little I knew about India in particular, I am not so naive as to believe anyone who says "We colonized and ruled you for your own good." It's hard to imagine anyone who ever reflects on their own biases or selfish interests saying that. It's a self-disqualification.
Tharoor goes well beyond saying the British did little for India. He illustrates the subtitle of the book, "What the British Did to India," in great detail. From destroying the Indian economy, which was vastly more advanced, for the benefit of British industry, to freezing caste differences in place and then prying them farther and farther apart, to using the procedures of the legal system to thoroughly hold down Indians and making the British government of India a playground and road to riches for spoiled British young men from well-off families, British imperialism made life in India worse in ways from which it is still recovering.
I do wonder whether the author romanticizes pre-colonial India. It seems unlikely that Hindus and Muslims got along quite as well as he postulates, or that local governments freely associated with one another in informal ways that benefited anyone but the elites. At about the halfway point in the book, moreover, he gets bogged down in the villains, heroes, and blow-by-blow description of Partition (which is clearly still traumatic for Indians the way the Nakba is for Palestinians, so it's understandable but not all that pertinent to his thesis). And the parts about cricket and tea are informative and amusing, but largely extraneous.
I am glad I read this book, as well as [b:The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire|42972023|The Anarchy The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire|William Dalrymple|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565769891l/42972023._SY75_.jpg|66799833], but I have come to this story in the middle.
Tharoor goes well beyond saying the British did little for India. He illustrates the subtitle of the book, "What the British Did to India," in great detail. From destroying the Indian economy, which was vastly more advanced, for the benefit of British industry, to freezing caste differences in place and then prying them farther and farther apart, to using the procedures of the legal system to thoroughly hold down Indians and making the British government of India a playground and road to riches for spoiled British young men from well-off families, British imperialism made life in India worse in ways from which it is still recovering.
I do wonder whether the author romanticizes pre-colonial India. It seems unlikely that Hindus and Muslims got along quite as well as he postulates, or that local governments freely associated with one another in informal ways that benefited anyone but the elites. At about the halfway point in the book, moreover, he gets bogged down in the villains, heroes, and blow-by-blow description of Partition (which is clearly still traumatic for Indians the way the Nakba is for Palestinians, so it's understandable but not all that pertinent to his thesis). And the parts about cricket and tea are informative and amusing, but largely extraneous.
I am glad I read this book, as well as [b:The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire|42972023|The Anarchy The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire|William Dalrymple|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565769891l/42972023._SY75_.jpg|66799833], but I have come to this story in the middle.