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Title: Raj : The Making and Unmaking of British India by Lawrence James ISBN: 0-312-26382-1 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 12 August, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.23 (31 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Pink Gin and Polo
Comment: This book seems to have drawn mixed reviews because of an inherent design limitation: it is the story of "British India," from the Battle of Plessey (1759) to independence (1947). In no sense is it a history of "India" from 1759 to 1947. So the starring roles are all given to Anglo-Saxons: conqueror Clive, corrupt East India men like Hastings, ambitious Army men such as Wellington, Hough and Campbell, enlightened viceroys (Lord Curzon), explorers (Burton), young men on the make (both young Winston Churchill and young George Orwell spent their formative years on the frontier) and of course Rudyard Kipling, the Bard of Empire, who is quoted extensively. There is little analysis of nationalists such as Nehru, Jinnah and Bose, and James' hostility towards Ghandi is so sparingly articulated that one can only assume the publishers deleted a more cogent critique for legal reasons. (Under Indian law, the Ghandi estate still has the right to sue for defamation.) James also nurses misgivings about Mountbatten, who he considers overrated: he feels Mountbatten's predecessor, Lord Wavell, was underrated. Taking all these limitations on board, however, this is a fascinating European history and it tells us more about the English national character - the stiff upper-lip, the stubbornness, the sense of hard-won pride, the occasional lapses into humbug - than many a domestic drama.
Rating: 3
Summary: Well-written but limited
Comment: It is not often that a book with 736 pages leaves one empty. The book should be retitled a military history of the British Raj, as Mr. James uses his considrable talents and efforts on the colonization of India and its staying power, and very very little time and effort on the net result of the modernization of India. The central thesis of the book is that the British were benign autocrats and the Raj was a boon to India. This thesis is debatable but what irks this reader is the limited scope of this book. James spends almost no time on the transforming effects of the Raj on the Indian people, and how the idea of India arose among the people. The reforms of Gandhi were western inspired, and democracy in general a gift from Britain, but James does not discuss how these views arose and evolved among the Indian elite. He barely mentions the Indian presence in the Raj bureacracy and its transforming power, while the "martial races" in the Raj miltary are discussed at length. The rebirth of poetry and literature among the Indian elite is not discussed. And this book is not merely a military history as the British view of colonialism is discussed at length, as seen by the frequent (and nauseating) snippets of Kipling. The battles within Congress, changes in the Indian education, the rise of different ethnic groups within the Raj and the ICS are not discussed. Finally, Muslim fears of a Hindu Raj are mentioned but not adequately explanined. James is at his best when he delves into the adventures of Clive and his compatriots, but the book is not a history of the British Raj, but rather a history of the conquest of India.
Rating: 5
Summary: Biased and intellectually bankrupt
Comment: There are lies, damned lies, statistics and then this book. The book makes you believe the British Raj, was some how an exercise in bringing peace, prosperity and moral upliftment to the barabarians of India. LOL! Which culture was it that developed our number system (it sounds "a lot like" India). Which culture found that the world was a sphere, proposed a creation theory similar to the big bang, had and still has an artistic tradition of painting, poetry, architecture and sculpture preceding that of Greece or Rome and still did long after their downfall. Which civilisation has a philosphical tradition that has only been reached by western thought in the last 50 or so years. To further make the point the so called British crown jewels are actually Indian. Even the United States was found by Columbus when trying to reach India.
There is only passing mention of the horrible atrocities and more significantly the administrative incompetence that lead all of India into a state of gradual economic decline. Bengal, once one of the riches areas of the entire world, was slowly but surely ground to poverty through British negligence and stupidity. This is only hinted at when in reality its pretty much the whole point when analysing the affect of the "Raj".
The book talks of British moral superiority vs the despotic nature of Orientals at a time when Australian aborigines were being hunted like game animals by the very same people and in India millions of peasants were dying of famine. Yet the author fails to mention that such famine was previously unheard of, due to proper cultivation and storage of produce that had preceded the British. The author makes a point of mentioning how brave the English soldiers were in comparison with their "native" enemy often winning when outnumbered, yet fails to reason that the use of guns vs swords may have been a more telling reason for such victories. And when Indian armies do defeat the British it is metnioned so incompletely that an alert reader is left wondering what is being hidden.
Regarding one of the other reviews, I agree that there is some criticism of the British view, however if the facts were poperly represented such criticism would clearly be seen as merely tear drops to counter an ocean of idiotic ideology. And yes to think that the British thought that they - with their once a week bathing habits were going to civilise the world is definatley hilarious - My god thoe guys were stupid! Well perhaps that explains their success - they had nothing to lose! Nonetheless, I'm still giving the book 5 stars for his writing ability amd I don't want to see the poor guy losing sales because of me! But do get Nehru's book for something more intellectually stimulating.
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Title: The Rise and Fall of British Empire by Lawrence James ISBN: 031216985X Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: India: A History by John Keay ISBN: 0802137970 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 10 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India by William Dalrymple ISBN: 0670031844 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 31 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk ISBN: 1568360223 Publisher: Kodansha International Pub. Date: April, 1994 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power by Niall Ferguson ISBN: 0465023282 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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