My rating: 3 of 5 stars Patrick N. Allitt comes across, in this series of audio lectures, as a very pleasant, easy-going and genial academic. His voice absolutely sounds like it belongs to a British comedian though I can’t, for the life of me, think who he makes me think of. Overall, the lectures feel… Read More Review: The Rise and Fall of the British Empire by Patrick N. Allitt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars A long-time lover of Global history, I’m very aware just how too much of what I’ve read has been written by white British historians (Peter Frankopan is just about the best of them). I recently started a run of reading non-white historians to get a much better balance of… Read More Book Review: Empireland – How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain by Sathnam Sanghera
My rating: 3 of 5 stars A short history of a country is never going to be an all-encompassing in-depth review of historical events. As such, a book of this sort is always going to be open to criticism and Simon Jenkins’ book has certainly received plenty of that. Some, I feel, is unjustified. While… Read More Book Review: A Short History of England by Simon Jenkins
The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell My rating: 4 of 5 stars Part of the current A level English Literature syllabus, this classic novel from Farrell is part of his triptych of books looking at, and criticising, the British Empire. This one is based loosely on the real events of 1857 when Indian sepoys… Read More Book Review: The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell
Rudyard Kipling: The Complete Jungle Books [The Jungle Book & The Second Jungle Book] by Rudyard Kipling My rating: 4 of 5 stars Bias Alert: Any book which deals in any way with India or the Indian subcontinent automatically makes me sad – both while reading it and especially when it comes to the end.… Read More Book Review: The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy My rating: 4 of 5 stars Arundhati Roy is proving to be a most annoying author, to say the least. For much of this story, her second novel, I frowned. The sense that Roy is actually a bit of a loony hasn’t left me since reading her… Read More Book Review: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy My rating: 5 of 5 stars I don’t think I’ve experienced such a conversion experience – last minute, at that – as I have with Arundhati Roy’s first (and until recently, only) novel. The need for conversion may have arisen from prejudice, I confess. On reading an… Read More Book Review: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Quiet People of India by Norvall Mitchell My rating: 3 of 5 stars “…you can both love something deeply and look down on it at the same time and this is all too easy for the foreigner in Asia.” I have a great deal of sympathy and understanding for Norvall Mitchell despite the fact… Read More Book Review: The Quiet People of India by Norvall Mitchell
Gora by Rabindranath Tagore My rating: 5 of 5 stars I wasn’t entirely sure if I was going to like this book – Tagore’s fifth and arguably best novel. It was written in 1910 and so belongs to an era where language then was often flowery and quite superfluous by today’s ‘active voice’ precise writing.… Read More Book Review: Gora
Sakthivel looked up from his workbench and out down the piece of wood he had spent the morning carefully carving into the shape of an elephant’s head. The little bells at the door had tinkled indicating a customer had entered the shop. “Hello?” called a voice, gruff, impatient and certainly western as far as the… Read More Day 5 – A Life Lived Through Stories: The Sitar
