Most recently the author of The State During the British Raj: Imperial Governance in South Asia, 1700-1947 (Oxford University Press, August 2019). Earlier works include Old World Empires: Cultures of Power and Governance in Eurasia (Routledge/Oxford University Press, 2014), The Culture of Power and Governance of Pakistan, 1947-2008 (Oxford University Press, 2010; reprinted 2011, 2012, 2016, 2019), and An Inquiry into the Culture of Power of the Subcontinent (Alhamra, 2006).
William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company is a fast-paced history of South Asia set during the turbulent 1700s. It tracks the emergence of the British as the successors to the paramount power of the Mughal empire, while also covering the rise and fall of various other contenders. Its rich narrative is engrossing and, once you pick up this book,
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