"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Raj - The Making and Unmaking of British India (Lawrence James, 2000)

Detailed discussion. Pretty amazing how a few Brits took control in late 18th century and ran things with local assistance for so long. Success here certainly made up for loss of North American colonies, but led to lots of other intrigues as Britain over time tried to exclude competitors in any area leading to India.

Congress party became active in late 19th century; British control pretty much ended during/after WWI; sectarian strife intensified as end of Raj became imminent; Jinnah with Muslim League pushes for partition; what a mess.

Author didn't care for Mountbatten.
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