India Britannica: A Vivid Introduction to the History of British India

by Geoffrey Moorhouse

From the beginnings of the East India Company in the seventeenth century down to February 28, 1948, when the Somerset Light Infantry became the last British soldiers to leave Indian soil, Moorhouse charts the course of British rule in India.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Geoffrey Moorhouse, FRGS, FRSL, D.Litt, was an English journalist and author. He was born Geoffrey Heald in Bolton and took his stepfather's surname. He attended Bury Grammar School. He began writing as a journalist on the Bolton Evening News. At the age of 27, he joined the Manchester Guardian where he eventually became chief feature writer and combined writing book with journalism.

Many of his books were largely based on his travels. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in 1972, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1982, and received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Warwick. His book To The Frontier won the Thomas Cook Award for the best travel book of its year in 1984. He had recently concentrated on Tudor history, with The Pilgrimage of Grace and Great Harry's Navy. He lived in a hill village in North Yorkshire. In an interview given at the University of Tuebingen in 1999, he described his approach to his writing.

All three of Moorhouse's marriages ended in divorce. He had two sons and two daughters, one of whom died of cancer in 1981. He died aged 77 of a stroke on 26 November 2009 and is survived by both sons and one daughter.

Reviews

[Brian Frederick Jerome Eadon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to find out more about the history of India and how the country became incorporated into the British Empire.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it gave me the information I needed. It included references and a bibliography which have guided my reading since completing this book.

[Jurjen Abbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goede introductie op het onderwerp Brits-India. Nu ben ik geen expert op dit gebied, en kan dus niet bevestigen of dit verhaal van Brits-India volledig overeenkomt met de werkelijkheid. India Britannica is bovendien duidelijk meer voor een populair dan een wetenschappelijk publiek geschreven. Maar als historici weten we dat historische waarheid een complex doel is om na te streven, en Moorhouse is toch knap ver die richting ingegaan.

Heel prettig vond ik dat Moorhouse expliciet een pro-Brits perspectief inneemt. Hierdoor kun je het boek in zijn geheel beter interpreteren en efficiënter inschatten waar de auteur zijn verhaal wellicht wat geromantiseerd heeft. Sowieso vond ik het een verademing om een boek te lezen dat de positievere kanten van kolonisatie laat zien, of het in ieder geval niet bij voorbaat veroordeelt, zoals in de hedendaagse geschiedschrijving zo in de mode is.
Ik ga ervan uit dat er nuances geplaatst kunnen worden bij de precieze inhoud van het boek. Maar voor een algemeen publiek lijkt me dit een uitstekende manier om, aan de hand van prachtig geschreven Engels, een net wat completer beeld te krijgen van dit spraakmakende hoofdstuk van Britse en Indiase geschiedenis.

[Emma Harvey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn’t actually finish this. I found it romanticised the whole concept of colonisation. Don’t read this if you want the hard truth.

[Red · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going in I didn't know a lot about the British time in India. But this author makes clear the grand sweeping time and scope of Britain in India. Its easy to follow and interesting. More of a pro British approach. I enjoyed it.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointed when towards the end of the book, Moorhouse became a bit too biased.

[Dee W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sort of miss my romantic notions of the British Raj in India after reading this book. It was well written and painstaking with names and dates. Carefully it showed bits of society, bits of cause and effect, bits of everything that left you wanting to know more. (More in a vivid interesting way, not more in the way of names and dates of inconsequential lackeys, but I digress.)