I’ve been reading a series of books that take place in Calcutta in the early 20th century. There are numerous references to the East India Company, and while I am certainly aware of their existence and historical importance, I realized it’s probably a fascinating story. Anyone have a book to recommend?
Try Lawrence Tribe’s Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. I have a couple of others I can recommend, but they are at school and I won’t be able to access them until Tuesday.
Nice. Thanks!
I thought Lawrence Tribe was a legal scholar, so I Googled; are you thinking of Lawrence James?
Look, I just read the name on the spine of the book. What my fingers type is not my problem. WHY AM I BEING PERSECUTED??
Of course it is James, not Tribe.
Highly recommend The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalrymple
Extra History did a 4-parter on the British conquest of India three months ago and the EIC – of course – comes up a lot.
Their “Lies” episode has the source materials.
I would recommend Shashi Tharoor’s " Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India"
Specific to Calcutta, please read about the Bengal Famine where 10 million died, 4 million more than the Jews killed by Nazis. They died largely because of the role Churchill played. Its covered in he book above.
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
I recommend “Empire Made: My Search for an Outlaw Uncle Who Vanished in British India”
by Kief Hillsbery. It’s the story of one British employee of the East India Company whose career there was quite unusual, but has a lot of good info on the Company in general.
There’s The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company by John Keay. If you go to Amazon, you can read a lengthy excerpt to check it out (for some reason, the excerpt is only available through the entry for the Kindle edition).