Inglorious Empire: what the British did to India

This is an excellent polemic and intellectual critique of the British colonial looting of India. It describes in horrifying detail what colonialism really was: the exploitation of a land for the benefit of the colonizers at the expense of the colonized. The book discusses the many unfair impositions of the British on the Indians: the overt discriminatory racism, the taxation, the creation of import and export tariffs for the benefit of British manufacturers and traders, the forced deindustrialization or prevention of industrial development of the country, the famines, and the political subjugation of the country. I thought the book, though, paid insufficient attention to how the British were able to occupy a huge and populace country such as India. To a certain extent, I think it was a coincidence or combination of events that happened to occur at the same time. The Mogul dynasty and central government collapsed, and India was invaded by the Persians, just when the British East India Company and the French went to war all over the world, including in India. The author (Shashi Tharoor) also, I think, misjudges the significance and effects of the European Industrial Revolution and the superior European military performance at the time. By the mid- to late 18th century, a European army and navy could defeat a much larger Indian or Asian army or navy. The European colonization or seizure of Africa and Asia occurred because of a huge superiority in military and industrial technology. To this day, if one country possesses a military or technological - industrial advantage over another country, it will use it for it's own benefit. The people of India, China, and Africa found this out. Another excellent book on this subject is "The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire" by Dalrymple (2019).

This book fixed my knowledge of the history of India. Mr Tharoor is undoubtedly a master of words, but makes this an engrossing read. Some paragraphs and chapters will make you think for long periods due to their profound nature. My copy of the book is now getting borrowed across the world, currently in India and hopefully will travel more before coming back. The book's contents also started a virtual book club to share the rage and frustration created by knowing the reality and how we have been deceived so far by false narratives. Thanks to Mr Tharoor and his team for the research and fact based story telling that makes this a keeper. Highly recommended if you have the appetite for the truth.

Shashi Tharoor became one of my favorite authors when I 'discovered' his novel, The Great Indian Novel, which is a clever, contemporary retelling of the Mahabharata by substituting the epic's well-known characters with India's political characters in the 1900s when Indian freedom fighters were trying to rid the country of the British. I trust Shashi Tharoor's knowledge of imperialism, especially as it relates to India. At the time this book was written, there were not too many books out there critical of British imperialism. In 'Inglorious Empire' not only does Dr. Tharoor criticize the British empire, but also lay out the details of how the British essentially destroyed one of human history's most advanced and prosperous societies. This book is written with knowledge and depth, but also in an engaging manner. I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to understand why most of the countries colonized by European imperialists became so impoverished in the past few centuries.

A great account of the true history of the Bristish Raj. Tharoor's coverage of India and England from the moment British East India landed to today is based on facts. His understandable pursuit of a symbolic acknowledgement by the Crown for their misdeeds drives his passion to write. A lot of social and economic data is discussed from all perspectives. It was a great read because it is not biased and does not seek to propagate any personal agendas. Tharoor's goal is to find the best possible way to move away from the blame game. This book is one to pass on to future generations.

It is true what the books says about what the British did to India, but the book does not properly mention the role that Indians played in bringing the British to power in the first place. British did not come in and impose their will on the Indians, they merely exploited the jealousy, the corruption, and the cruelty of Indians towards their own people. Such a large population of such heroic character did not fall to merely a few thousand British. Indians themselves made it happen to their own people and land.

The book systematically debunks all false notions and dishonest claims that British Empire was benign to India! Britain has lived the life of a parasite sucking all life out of India for 200 years! The numbers, details on the wealth swindled, how Brits set the clock back & stunted India’s development are staggering. So called British Indian army, for example, made of Indians, entirely paid by dirt poor Indians was deployed all over the world for various wars, WW1&2. Details painful to read at times. More appalling are the details on how Brits promoted hate & enmity between groups as a main tool to sustain the Empire. My opinion on Churchill has been lowered even further which I didn’t think was possible be for reading this book. Must read for anyone wanting to know of Indian history 17th -20 th century!!!

Well researched review of the British takeover of India, what they did to destroy the local economy, steal India's wealth, enslave the natives and treat them like dogs for nearly 200 years and by doing so, how they created wealth for themselves as well as providing the loot to industrialize and develop England. A must read for every citizen of every country that was colonized by the British, Dutch or French, who has been manipulated into believing that these invaders helped their country

The author covers nearly 200 years of continuously horrifying encounters between the conquering British and conquered Indians. I believe his expectations of fair play were set too high from the 15% brutal “bad” guys, who were indeed in charge - notwithstanding the brave kindness of the 3-5% “conscientious” ones. The other 80% simply rode the free, lucrative and long ride, just like their counterparts in Germany did during the short rise of the third Reich. The book would have earned 5 stars if there were more inspiring examples of individual and groups of Indians who overcame those institutionalized handicaps and thrived against all the odds. Instead of asking for apologies or reparations (good luck!), perhaps an India-based museum of colonial atrocities alongside successful examples of individual/group achievements should prove to be a lasting legacy against future amnesia. A possible location? Backyard of the Viceroy’s palace (now the Rashtrapati Bhavan).

Brilliant book. Everyone should read this background to the horrors of the British Empire's presence in and exploitation of India for over three hundred years. Cannot recommend it enough.

The author sets out to argue against the notion that the British presence in India was a good thing. It is a point of view that must be read and considered carefully before any apology for British colonialism is made, with facts and viewpoints often overlooked by those extolling the virtues of empire. Whatever your viewpoint, the argument of the author must be taken into account before you can say your viewpoint is well informed.

As an educator in a previous life I would like to see this book made required reading in all British secondary schools. Why? Because it offers the perfect object-lesson in why it is always, yes always, wrong to march into another country under the pretence of a civilising mission. And, just as importantly, it shows why national myth-making leads unsuspecting citizens into very dangerous intellectual and emotional territory. Let’s start with the few quibbles that can be raised in order to discredit the value of this book. It verges occasionally, but only occasionally, on a quasi-rant against the evils of colonialism and the utter iniquities of British rule. It also slips into an emotional use of language, sometimes through unnecessary repetition, in its desire to make a point. The index is woefully inadequate, but it shares this failing with many another work of non-fiction. However, Tharoor has produced a meticulously researched book with thirty pages of notes and references in addition to footnotes (but don’t let that put you off) which comprehensively deals with the British involvement in India as well as many a backward glance to what the country was like before the British government decided it had to intervene in order to support the activities of the East India Company. In that year, 1600, England produced just 1.8 per cent of the world’s GDP in contrast to India’s 23 per cent. India had a flourishing manufacturing industry, especially in textiles, and one of its celebrated universities, Nalanda, had already predated the foundation of Oxford and Cambridge by centuries. When the British finally left, having systematically expropriated as much as they could, literacy rates and life expectancy rates were amongst the lowest in the Third World. Tea was grown solely for the satisfaction of consumers in Blighty, wild animals were slaughtered for the benefit of trophy-hunters, whole forests were cut down to provide railway sleepers and exotic furniture back home, the economy was turned into a largely agrarian base, taxes were extracted to finance colonial overlords and their staff while denying the native population any say in how they were governed. In modern times there has never been a famine in India; throughout British rule there were several. Even today there are British historians who continue to peddle the myths of the huge civilising influence the mother country exercised in the swathes of world territory it once ruled. Read Tharoor and you will be disabused of such fanciful notions. You will also be shocked to read how brutally and inhumanely the native Indian population was treated. It is one of the absurdities advanced by adherents to the Brexit cause that they imagine the Indians of today are falling over backwards to do all kinds of major trade deals with the erstwhile mother country. It betrays a total lack of historical understanding by such modern myth-makers that they indulge their fantasies of a Global Britain keen to resurrect the supposed glories of the past. Amongst the debunking of dangerous national myths is the historical evidence that Tharoor presents to show what an incorrigible racist Churchill was. I suspect that one reason why historians on the right have done all they can to discredit this book is because of the many uncomfortable instances of the great man’s bigotry and racial superiority. Equally unsettling is the history of British withdrawal in the wake of the Second World War. Divide and rule was always the British approach previously, but the fact that they largely stood back while Hindus and Moslems massacred each other while still retaining overall responsibility for the running of the country is an utterly shameful comment on the alleged superiority of the British civilising influence. Read this book in order to understand how shockingly and shamefully human beings behave towards others under their control and how national myths continue to be perpetuated despite all evidence to the contrary.

I had heard of some things done by the British such as the Amritsar massacre, and the poor treatment of Indian people, mostly from films, but I had no idea of the depths of depravity of those involved. I agree with other reviewers, that this kind of material should be taught in schools. I found the book both fascinating and horrifying, like a slow-motion wreck. I admire the author's passion and position on the subject, and his impeccable writing style. As noted by one of the critics, for a Brit, it is indeed uncomfortable reading.

Rekommenderas starkt, då den öppnar upp historien med mycket fakta och kartlägger vad som faktiskt föregick bakom kulisserna. Mycket av det britterna gjorde i Indien har inte kommit upp till ytan men den här boken sätter fingret på det. Sätter hela det koloniala projektet under lupp och belyser de grymheter som gjordes för att maximera vinst.