My reading habits tend to sway regularly between fiction and non-fiction, and my favourite reads of any given year are usually disproportionately of the non-fic variety. There is a historical bent to my selections this time, but they are all interesting and engaging studies, well worth your time and effort.
Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India by Shashi Tharoor
In the last few years, there has been a growing nostalgia in Britain for the ‘Good Old Days’. Whether you feel this is a positive or not, one of the unfortunate consequences of this has been a rise in historical publications written by those who are, at worst, supporters of the former British Empire and at best, apologists for its worst atrocities.
In a book expanded from a speech given to the Oxford Union, Shashi Tharoor has made a bold and decisive attempt to counter pro-imperialist writings in relation to the occupation of India. By making use of apologist points of debate, for example, ‘British gave India the Rule of Law’, Tharoor proceeds to knock down many of these notions with precision and a handle on the sources that is often devastating to read. The Marquess of Salisbury, Secretary of State for India in the 1860s and 1870s, later British Prime Minister, once said ‘India is to be bled’. This sentence is an excellent summation of the key points of this book.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Raj in all its glory (and definite lack thereof), post-colonisation and the ongoing impact on global relations today.
Get this book here.
The Making of Home: The 500-Year Story of How Our Houses Became Our Homes
by Judith Flanders
This book genuinely is a gallivant through the concept of home and hearth, and all the narrative detours this might entail. It is thematic rather than chronological, but I felt that each chapter was an essay about an individual topic, which all worked in line with the central theme of ‘home’. Chapters covering notions such as ‘Invisible Furniture’, the rise of the fork, the development of hygeine and growth of the use of corridors are only some of the fascinating side-lines that we are treated to in this book.
If you find the history of domesticity in all its aspects fascinating (I’m thinking anyone keen on the servants’ story in Downton Abbey, or with a nostalgia for the domestic ‘make do’ of the 1940s), this is for you. If you don’t, it might still be good for you, as honestly it contains more diversions than I can adequately summarise here.
Get this book here.
Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism through the Eyes of Everyday People by Julia Boyd
The problem with the Nazis is that they truly are the world’s ultimate super villains. They are marched out for everything from sitcoms to computer games, and with their penchant for smart uniforms and leather trench coats, they really have set themselves up for an eternity of parody. However, they also represent a horrifying regime that is often set as the bar for the ‘we’ll never do that again’ of global politics. Surely, then, one must ask how on earth nobody noticed the obvious super villain situation at the time, particularly those outside of the economic and social situation of 1930s Germany? Julia Boyd’s interesting book attempts to contribute to the conundrum.
Taking a variety of sources, including letters, newspaper reports and even holiday diaries from visiting school children, Boyd attempts to cover the chronological rise of the Nazis through the eyes of outsiders. Beginning at the end of the First World War right up until the Russian advance on Berlin, this book is a fascinating history of some of those who came to be entangled in the Third Reich. There are any number of unusual witnesses here, including literary figures such as Virginia Woolf. All the different points of view and snapshots of ordinary Germany during this period are fascinating.
My overall impression came to be that sadly, we are sometimes blind to what could in hindsight be staring us in the face. Nonetheless, this is a great read.
Get this book here.
Have you read any of these? Please let me know what you thought in the comments.
Until next time.
Disclaimer: All opinions my own. This post may contain affiliate links.
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