“The Hinduism Tharoor proudly asserts and defends is universalist, liberal, and syncretic…this deeply informative book is a must-read for Americans interested in Hinduism and the world’s largest democracy.” STARRED REVIEW
—Booklist
“A thoughtful celebration of Hinduism as a potentially unifying force.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Shashi Tharoor is the most charming and persuasive writer in India. His new book is a brave and characteristically articulate attempt to save a great and wonderfully elusive religion from the certainties of the fundamentalists and the politicization of the bigots.”
William Dalrymple
“[An] important book: it is about the dangers that lie in India’s future as well as the woes and glories of the past…one of India’s most articulate liberals and a leading voice of those who reject the aggressively fundamentalist strains of Hindu nationalism.”
—Financial Times
Praise for Inglorious Empire:
“Rare indeed is it to come across history that is so readable and so persuasive.”
—Amitav Ghosh
“Tharoor convincingly demolishes some of the more persistent myths about Britain’s supposedly civilizing mission in India.”
—Financial Times
“This book burns with the power of intellect married with conviction…this is erudite, well-written, thoroughly documented and persuasive history that focuses varied sources into a coherent critique of colonialism in the Indian context. Tear up your copies of Ferguson’s neo-liberal mind rot and get angry like Tharoor.”
—Sydney Morning Herald
“Those Brits who speak confidently about how Britain’s ‘historical and cultural ties’ to India will make it easy to strike a great new trade deal should read Mr Tharoor’s book. It would help them to see the world through the eyes of the…countries once colonized or defeated by Britain.”
—Financial Times
“His writing is a delight and he seldom misses his target…Tharoor should be applauded for tackling an impossibly contentious subject…he deserves to be read. Indians are not the only ones who need reminding that empire has a lot to answer for.”
—Literary Review
“Tharoor’s impassioned polemic slices straight to the heart of the darkness that drives all empires. Forceful, persuasive and blunt, he demolishes Raj nostalgia, laying bare the grim, and high, cost of the British Empire for its former subjects. An essential read.”
—Nilanjana Roy, Financial Times
“Well-referenced and full of fascinating facts, quotes and anecdotes, Inglorious Empire is a scorching indictment of British rule in India, and of British imperialism more broadly.”
—Green Left Weekly
“A timely reminder of the need to start teaching unromanticized colonial history in British schools. A welcome antidote to the nauseating righteousness and condescension peddled by Niall Ferguson in his 2003 book Empire.”
—The Irish Times
