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    The British in India: A Social History of the Raj
    The British in India: A Social History of the Raj
    The British in India: A Social History of the Raj
    Audiobook23 hours

    The British in India: A Social History of the Raj

    Written by David Gilmour

    Narrated by Michael Page

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    An immersive portrait of the lives of the British in India, from the seventeenth century to Independence

    Who of the British went to India, and why? We know about Kipling and Forster, Orwell and Scott, but what of the youthful forestry official, the enterprising boxwallah, the fervid missionary? What motivated them to travel halfway around the globe, what lives did they lead when they got there, and what did they think about it all?

    Full of spirited, illuminating anecdotes drawn from long-forgotten memoirs, correspondence, and government documents, The British in India weaves a rich tapestry of the everyday experiences of the Britons who found themselves in “the jewel in the crown” of the British Empire. David Gilmour captures the substance and texture of their work, home, and social lives, and illustrates how these transformed across the several centuries of British presence and rule in the subcontinent, from the East India Company’s first trading station in 1615 to the twilight of the Raj and Partition and Independence in 1947. He takes us through remote hill stations, bustling coastal ports, opulent palaces, regimented cantonments, and dense jungles, revealing the country as seen through British eyes, and wittily reveling in all the particular concerns and contradictions that were a consequence of that limited perspective. The British in India is a breathtaking accomplishment, a vivid and balanced history written with brio, elegance, and erudition.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateDec 18, 2018
    ISBN9781978648999
    Author

    David Gilmour

    Sir David Gilmour is one of Britain’s most admired and accomplished historical writers and biographers. His previous books include The Last Leopard, The Long Recessional, The Ruling Caste, and The Pursuit of Italy.

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    Reviews for The British in India

    4.5/5

    22 ratings3 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A massive book, over 500 pages of body text in small print, and another 100 pages of notes and references, it tells the personal stories of a number of British administrators, soldiers, professionals, missionaries, adventurers, writers and travellers, and others in the Indian subcontinent. Through their stories, one gets a glimpse into the complex and variegated motivations and ideas of these persons, their different ways of relating to a new culture and people, and how all this has contributed to the state of the subcontinent today. Perhaps the most poignant are the stories of those who came to see this land as their own home, and the dilemmas of those left stranded between two worlds as empire gave way to the era of independence. A huge and absorbing tale (which has taken me a correspondingly substantial time to get through!), ably recounted by one of the best writers of the genre.
    • 5/5
      David Gilmour in painstaking detail and readable prose presents the social history of the Raj in India. He befitting an historian without prejudice describes a range of Biritsh bureaucrats, military personnel of all ranks, mensahibs and civilians who stamped for two milennial the infrastructure of Colonial India under the British Empire. His narrative is extensive but not witout humor. I enjoyed the book which offered a balanced view of Britain’s contributions as we look at India now as another Asian economic power.
    • 5/5
      A panoramic social history of all those who called India home during the age of Empire, lasting 300 years - their motivations for going and experiences while there, covering every aspect of their varied lives - a truly staggering work of research, then marshalling the facts to conjure a whole series of vivid and revealing sketches and anecdotes. David Gilmour does not seek to make judgements about the rights and wrongs of Britain's involvement in India - the facts are presented and readers can reach their own conclusions.