Inglorious Empire: what the British did to India

Inglorious Empire: what the British did to India

<p>In the eighteenth century, India€s share of the world economy was as large as Europe€s. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannon, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalised racism, and caused millions to die from starvation.</p> <p>British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial €œgift€€•from the railways to the rule of law€•was designed in Britain€s interests alone. He goes on to show how Britain€s Industrial Revolution was founded on India€s deindustrialization and the destruction of its textile industry. In this bold and incisive reassessment of colonialism, Tharoor exposes to devastating effect the inglorious reality of Britain€s stained Indian legacy.</p>