After six-odd years of extensive research, William Dalrymple’s labour has paid off in a written work that will be enjoyed by anyone who has a smidgen of interest in a tiny portion of India’s past.. Despite a few dead-ends during the data collection period for this book, the author still manages to weave a wonderful tapestry of turn of the century that makes this book more readable than most other ’history’ books.
Ever had that sense of how we sometimes do our best to blend-in with the community when our jobs or studies takes us to a foreign country for some length of time? That is exactly what some of the Brits in the employment of East India Company were trying to do during their stint in India. Many failed miserably, but Dalrymple’s book is about one of those who succeeds, almost!
I’m not the one for reading history, but this is a small portion of India’s heritage, 580 pages of it, is delightfully readable. And to a point that it seems almost ’fictional’, except that the narration is backed by existing archive documents.