The Anarchy

The Relentless Rise of the East India Company

By: William Dalrymple

Narrated by: Sid Sagar

Bloomsbury presents The Anarchy by William Dalrymple, read by Sid Sagar.

THE TOP 5 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2019
THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR
FINALIST FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2020
LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2019
A FINANCIAL TIMES, OBSERVER, DAILY TELEGRAPH, WALL STREET JOURNAL AND TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘Dalrymple is a superb historian with a visceral understanding of India … A book of beauty’ – Gerard DeGroot, The Times

In August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish a new administration in his richest provinces. Run by English merchants who collected taxes using a ruthless private army, this new regime saw the East India Company transform itself from an international trading corporation into something much more unusual: an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business.

William Dalrymple tells the remarkable story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.©2019 William Dalrymple (P)2019 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Critic reviews

An energetic pageturner that marches from the counting house on to the battlefield, exploding patriotic myths along the way (Maya Jasanoff)

A tour de force ***** (Anne de Courcy)

Magnificent … The Anarchy explodes myths that have accreted around the history of the Company like barnacles on the hulls of its ships ... Dalrymple shines a forensic light on the knotty historical relationship between commercial and imperial power (John McAleer)

Dalrymple has been at the forefront of the new wave of popular history, consistently producing work that 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 … The book’s real achievement is to take readers to an important and neglected period of British and south Asian history, and to make their trip their not just informative but colourful (Jason Burke)

Gloriously opulent … India is a sumptuous place. Telling its story properly demands lush language, not to mention sensitivity towards the country’s passionate complexity. Dalrymple is a superb historian with a visceral understanding of India … A book of beauty (Gerard DeGroot)

It is well-trodden territory but Dalrymple ... brings to it erudition, deep insight and an entertaining style

Combining extensive research, judicious analysis and an acceptable level of outrage, Dalrymple’s compelling account will cement his status as the most widely read British writer on India since Kipling … A brave and stirring narrative of India’s eighteenth-century fragmentation (John Keay)

[A] rampaging, brilliant, passionate history … Dalrymple gives us every sword-slash, every scam, every groan and battle cry. He has no rival as a narrative historian of the British in India … A gripping tale of bloodshed and deceit, of unimaginable opulence and intolerable starvation ... shot through with an unappeasable moral passion

‘Masterful … Dalrymple has been for some years one of the most eloquent and assiduous chroniclers of Indian history. With this new work, he sounds a minatory note … Dalrymple has done a great service in not just writing an eminently readable history of eighteenth-century India, but in reflecting on how so much of it serves as a warning for our own time’ (Stuart Kelly)

A magnificently readable book, deeply researched and richly atmospheric, written with a historian’s understanding of power and a novelistic eye for detail ***** (Francis Wheen)

A rip-roaring tale of wild adventure, amorality, feckless greed and despicable behaviour … His best history to date (Louise Nicholson)

[Dalrymple] is a terrifically good storyteller. He makes the reader see how events unfold and observe the personalities up close. He is widely read both in the primary sources and the historical scholarship. As a result, The Anarchy is one of the best books on Indian history published in a long time

Very thorough history

The introduction and conclusion of this book make it seem political, but the core was just very detailed history with little theorizing or commentary. Dalrymple beautifully allowed the primary sources to tell the incredible story of their time. It felt incredibly thorough while still being accessable.

The only gripes I had were that in audio form it was occasionally hard to tell what was quotation and what was narration. The modern equivalencies of vast sums of money also disrupted the flow and were not particularly helpful.

Overall an informative military, political, and economic history.

Thought provoking

Was interesting how a non-fiction book could evoke such strong emotional responses from me. As an Indian myself, this book did highlight nuances about the history of EIC that aren’t really taught to kids growing up as part of the academic curriculum. At the same time, it did end up leaving me with more questions than answers - what is my take-away from this story considering my ancestors were likely unwitting participants in the events narrated here. Also, how does the author feel about his ancestors likely having been on the other side of the story as mine? Nitpicking aside, was a great narrative experience for me. Will definitely give this multiple listening to truly absorb all the little stories along the way.

Corporate Imperium

an incredible story of Corporate conquest and the disintegration of Mughal Dominion. a must buy

Excellent

It's well written provided with detailed research and balanced viewpoints. Makes one go back in time and imagine the events as they unfolded. Highly recommended!

Earthshaking

Totally blasted my knowledge about India and Britain. Changed my views of 18th century commerce