‘A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian’ PETER FRANKOPAN
‘Remarkable … The prose is vivid, the storytelling cinematic’ GUARDIAN
‘This book is a revelation … both original and important’ MISHAL HUSAIN
A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it.
‘An important contribution … Delving lucidly into the most significant ideological battles of the era, this book deftly outlines the thinking and dialogue that laid the foundations of the Republic – and which remain deeply relevant and contentious today’Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire
Investigating the literary culture of the early interaction between European countries and East Africa, Edward Wilson-Lee uncovers an extraordinary sequence of stories in which explorers, railway labourers, decadent émigrés, freedom fighters, and pioneering African leaders made Shakespeare their own in this alien land.
Inspiration for the major film starring Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal and Huma Qureshi and directed by Gurinder Chadha.
The first modern history of all South Asia’s peoples.
