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A review by paul_cornelius
White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India by William Dalrymple
4.0
Once more, William Dalrymple exhibits superior storytelling skills in his history of a Muslim-British romance towards the end of the 18th century in British India. The couple James Achilles Kirkpatrick and his wife, Khair, defy the conventions of both cultures to pursue an intense, romantic life together that is nevertheless marred by tragedy and early death on the part of nearly everyone involved. If this sounds a bit like a soap opera, that is because it in many ways is just that. And it's typical Dalrymple, with his own ancestors entering the narration at several points. This is "great man" history at its best.
Yet it overlooks so much. It begs the question: what was happening to all those people living beneath the exquisite lifestyles of British lords and noble born Muslim Begums? You want find even a hint of an answer in Dalrymple's books. Of course, you cannot criticize him for a book he didn't write--about the fate of the classes not so ennobled. It's just that he seems so completely unaware. Could it be because Dalrymple is himself of such a social standing that he really cannot comprehend what his books so often omit?
As much as I enjoy reading these Dalrymple histories for the good and valuable timelines and personalities they present, I always feel that I've gorged on sweets rather than a nutritious dinner. And with White Mughals, I must say that Dalrymple is at his apex. This is the Harlequin Romance of history to end them all.
Yet it overlooks so much. It begs the question: what was happening to all those people living beneath the exquisite lifestyles of British lords and noble born Muslim Begums? You want find even a hint of an answer in Dalrymple's books. Of course, you cannot criticize him for a book he didn't write--about the fate of the classes not so ennobled. It's just that he seems so completely unaware. Could it be because Dalrymple is himself of such a social standing that he really cannot comprehend what his books so often omit?
As much as I enjoy reading these Dalrymple histories for the good and valuable timelines and personalities they present, I always feel that I've gorged on sweets rather than a nutritious dinner. And with White Mughals, I must say that Dalrymple is at his apex. This is the Harlequin Romance of history to end them all.