Questions About An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about An Era of Darkness, please sign up.

Answered Questions (9)

As an Indian I find this writer's venom against Britain more than a bit embarrassing. Britain left India about 70 years ago and with all the resources of modern technology India could have solved its problems of poverty long ago, instead of being the world's greatest reservoir of human misery. The British did a lot of good in India and in their empire, as well as a lot of evil. United India without them? A joke.

Pranav "The British did a lot of good in India and in their empire, as well as a lot of evil."

I find your ignorance on this topic embarrassing. Especially s…more"The British did a lot of good in India and in their empire, as well as a lot of evil."

I find your ignorance on this topic embarrassing. Especially since you claim to be Indian. If you had read the book you would know every "good" that apologists of the Empire claim in India, the intention behind was control and exploitation. Destruction of the traditional education was systematic in it's attempt to create a more servile class of indians.(less)

flag

An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India Is this book contains fact or just a fictional overview?

Vishal Kale Completely factual. For proof, refer the Bibliography, several of the books listed there have been reviewed on my blog reflectionsvvk on blogspot. The…moreCompletely factual. For proof, refer the Bibliography, several of the books listed there have been reviewed on my blog reflectionsvvk on blogspot. There is extensive evidence available in the form of period documents, which has been referenced by the authors of all these books(less)

flag

How this book is different from Shashi tharoor's other Book "An era of darkness"?

J Singh Assuming you have completed "An era of darkness", the only way to answer this would be to give yourself the chance to read it so you can cross-referen…moreAssuming you have completed "An era of darkness", the only way to answer this would be to give yourself the chance to read it so you can cross-reference your thoughts on the two books.

It's a very well written book and one which you will enjoy if you take an interest in history. (less)

flag

Why are there so few books covering this subject?

G Steele Found the following related articles that others might find useful:

Jasanoff, Maya. “Misremembering the British Empire/Operation Legacy (Print Ed.).” N…moreFound the following related articles that others might find useful:

Jasanoff, Maya. “Misremembering the British Empire/Operation Legacy (Print Ed.).” New Yorker Magazine, November 2, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20....

Mukerjee, Madhusree. Churchill’s Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II. New York: Basic Books, 2010.

Khan, Yasmin. India at War: The Subcontinent and the Second World War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Patnaik, Utsa. “Aspects of India’s Colonial Economic History.” Edited by Amiya Kumar Bagchi. Economic and Political Weekly 49, no. 5 (2014): 31–39.

Sen, Amartya. “Disputations: Imperial Illusions.” The New Republic, February 14, 2008. https://newrepublic.com/article/64801....
(less)

flag

Can anyone recommend other books that are critical of British colonialism? Not necessarily in India. Based on reviews I'm having trouble finding ones that aren't written with rose-tinted glasses.