Successful sieges are followed by systematic looting – that word again – usually accompanied by chaotic rape and murder of civilians by EIC troops. Much of this is a consequence of continuing warfare between the various competing powers ruling the subcontinent at the time, but the company does not shy away from brutality. Chapter after chapter is filled with battles, pillage and massacres. Chapter after chapter is filled with battles, pillage and massacresĪnd violent it was.

Now, The Anarchy narrates what the author describes as “the supreme act of corporate violence in world history”, the invasion, occupation and exploitation of most of modern-day India by an almost entirely unaccountable company that, at its peak, was wealthier than many states, bought British MPs and had 150,000 men under arms. A decade later, Return of a King told the story of British military misadventure in Afghanistan between 18. When “East and West, Islam and Christianity appeared to be engaged in another major confrontation”, it provided “a timely reminder that it is indeed very possible – and has always been possible – to reconcile the two worlds”. White Mughals, published in 2002, recounted an unlikely love story between an ambitious EIC soldier and a Muslim Indian princess. Dalrymple’s work has been justly praised for introducing the voices of the conquered and colonised alongside those more traditionally cited. He has been at the forefront of the new wave of popular history, consistently producing work that sacrifices nothing in historical accuracy or insight but engages with a wider audience through writerly craft, an emphasis on characters and their agency, evocative description of place and time, and the inclusion of long-neglected perspectives.

Photograph: AC Cooper/De Agostini via Getty Imagesĭalrymple made his name with a series of erudite travel books before switching to histories that have recounted British engagement with south Asia in the 18th and 19th centuries. A British Library print of the storming of Delhi during the Sepoy uprising (1857-1858) against the rule of the British East India Company, known as the Indian Mutiny.

The anarchy william dalrymple review