''The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company'' is a 2019 history book by

William Dalrymple William Dalrymple may refer to: * William Dalrymple (1678–1744), Scottish Member of Parliament * William Dalrymple (moderator) (1723–1814), Scottish minister and religious writer * William Dalrymple (British Army officer) (1736–1807), Scott ...

. It recounts the rise of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

in the second half of the 18th century, against the backdrop of a crumbling

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and the rise of regional powers.

Overview

The book deals with the history of the East India Company in the Indian subcontinent, beginning with the humble origins of the East India Company, founded in 1599 when it received a royal charter awarding them a monopoly on all trade between England and Asia. By the end of the first half of the 18th century, they had established bases in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. The main part of the book deals with the territorial conquests, starting from the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, ...

in 1757, which results in the conquest of Bengal, the richest province of Mughal India. By the end of 1803, they have gained control over the entire subcontinent and command a large private army. Dalrymple draws from known sources and previously untranslated or unknown sources like the Shah Alam Nama, a biography of

Shah Alam II Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His powe ...

, the Mughal emperor during most of the events.

Reception

The book has received positive reviews.

Maya Jasanoff Maya R. Jasanoff is an American academic. She serves as Coolidge Professor of History at Harvard University, where she focuses on the history of Britain and the British Empire. Early life Jasanoff grew up in Ithaca, New York and comes from a f ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' notes that the book is an "... energetic pageturner that marches from the counting house on to the battlefield, exploding patriotic myths along the way."

Tirthankar Roy Tirthankar Roy (born 14 February 1960) is an Indian economic historian and Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics. He is one of the most influential researchers of the Economic History of South Asia and India, having p ...

writes in ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...

'' that "...he is a terrifically good storyteller. He makes the reader see how events unfold and observe the personalities up close. He is widely read both on 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." M Saad of ''

Scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...

'' notes that " is an achievement in itself that he has adroitly dealt with a work of such proportions. Dalrymple writes with a mastery in which he has few equals among his contemporaries. He is known for narrating the most dreadful of all historical events with a certain grace unique to his writing." Mukund Padmanabhan writes in ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' that " his familiar passionate manner, Dalrymple cuts through the stodge that pervades a lot of writing on history to serve up a book that has it all — the compulsive pull of a thriller, the erudition of a significant piece of non-fiction, and the loveliness of a piece of literature." Madhumita Mazumdar writes in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' that " e Anarchy remains a unique meditation on corporate avarice told with the deftness of a scholar and the charm of a raconteur." The book was long listed for the

Baillie Gifford Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...

2019, and short listed for the Duke of Wellington medal for Military History, the Tata Book of the Year (Non-fiction) and the Historical Writers Association Book Award 2020. It was a Finalist for the Cundill Prize for History and won the 2020 Arthur Ross Bronze Medal from the US Council on Foreign Relation. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

included The Anarchy in his list of favorite books of 2019.

TV Adaptation

The Anarchy is set for adaptation by

Jeremy Brock Jeremy Brock MBE (born 1959) is a British writer and director whose works include the screenplays ''Mrs Brown'', ''Driving Lessons'', ''The Last King of Scotland'', '' Charlotte Gray'', and ''The Eagle''. Brock has also written two plays for th ...

. The initial plan is it to be made into three TV series. Dalrymple will act as a creative consultant. It will be made as an international production between Wiip and Roy Kapur Films and produced across India, United Kingdom and the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anarchy, The 2019 non-fiction books Books by William Dalrymple History books about India History books about the British Empire Bloomsbury Publishing books British East India Company History books about the 18th century

Overview

Reception

TV Adaptation

Further reading

References