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

Rather buy the paper copy

I loved "The Return of the King," but stopped listening to this book. Why?
1. I assume the paper book has maps and other figures that are somehow not available for separate download. Therefore, I often had no clear idea of the spatial orientation and movement of the actors over time.
2. Different from "The Return of the King," this book did not focus on a few central stories or characters that one could get invested in. Instead, the narrative was quite chronological -- i.e. it seemed to be a bit this happened, then this happened, then this happened.
These two elements stretched my attention span to the breaking point, I'm afraid.

Heavy read, but excellent!

Superb pronunciation of Indian names. Extremely well researched. A must read for all, especially for history buffs.

A Masterpiece!

This book is a work of art. Credit to the author for not just relying one resources from one side, but from all parties involved, as he always does. As this is told like a story, it is joy reading and/or listening to it. I plan on reading/listening to this again.

An Excellent History

An excellent historical work weaving a complex narrative in a digestible format. The narration is clear and fitting to the text, and with good pronunciation of names and phrases from different languages.

Incredibly dense

There’s far too much information; it overwhelms the narrative. I had to fast forward through the currency conversions. It’s too bad because there is a lot of thrilling drama that gets buried.