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An Era of Darkness
- The British Empire in India
- Narrated by: Sagar Arya
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
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An Era of Darkness
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Publisher's Summary
In 1930, the American historian and philosopher Will Durant wrote that Britain s conscious and deliberate bleeding of India... [was the] greatest crime in all history . He was not the only one to denounce the rapacity and cruelty of British rule, and his assessment was not exaggerated. Almost 35 million Indians died because of acts of commission and omission by the British in famines, epidemics, communal riots and wholesale slaughter like the reprisal killings after the 1857 War of Independence and the Amritsar massacre of 1919. Besides the deaths of Indians, British rule impoverished India in a manner that beggars belief. When the East India Company took control of the country, in the chaos that ensued after the collapse of the Mughal empire, India's share of world GDP was 23 per cent. When the British left it was just above 3 per cent.
The British empire in India began with the East India Company, incorporated in 1600, by royal charter of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I, to trade in silk, spices and other profitable Indian commodities. Within a century and a half, the Company had become a power to reckon with in India. In 1757, under the command of Robert Clive, Company forces defeated the ruling Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal at Plassey, through a combination of superior artillery and even more superior chicanery. A few years later, the young and weakened Mughal emperor, Shah Alam II, was browbeaten into issuing an edict that replaced his own revenue officials with the Company s representatives. Over the next several decades, the East India Company, backed by the British government, extended its control over most of India, ruling with a combination of extortion, double-dealing, and outright corruption backed by violence and superior force. This state of affairs continued until 1857, when large numbers of the Company s Indian soldiers spearheaded the first major rebellion against colonial rule. After the rebels were defeated, the British Crown took over power and ruled the country ostensibly more benignly until 1947, when India won independence.
In this explosive book, best-selling author Shashi Tharoor reveals with acuity, impeccable research, and trademark wit, just how disastrous British rule was for India. Besides examining the many ways in which the colonizers exploited India, he demolishes the arguments of Western and Indian apologists for Empire on the supposed benefits of British rule, including democracy and political freedom, the rule of law, and the railways. The few unarguable benefits of the English language, tea, and cricket were never actually intended for the benefit of the colonized but introduced to serve the interests of the colonizers.
Brilliantly narrated and passionately argued, An Era of Darkness will serve to correct many misconceptions about one of the most contested periods of Indian history.
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What listeners say about An Era of Darkness
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Harish Pande
- 12-05-23
A must listen for everyone
Very detailed accounts of impact of colonisation and gives honest opinion in most cases of the British and Indian politicians of the era. It is a must listen/read for everyone.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ingale
- 26-11-23
Glory of India looted by British
Mr. Tharur is a great author, explains in detail how British systematically looted India.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- P Pramod
- 10-12-18
Dark history
I felt like I have been cheated by my government by hiding the atrocities of the imperial English rule. Its such a shame that we as Indians are not even made aware about the clinical process adopted by the East India company / British government to decimate and discard our traditions and values. Even to this day, our education system is following the slavery model..
I feel, this book should be considered as a text book for Class VIII and above by retaining the sections where the author refers to the British rule alone... all references to the post Independence rule should be removed since they appear to be biased
I also don't appreciate the author when he points out a particular Indian Government when he refers to Hindus.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-09-20
State of dilemma
Narrator was fantabulous,I would rather call him a perfect orrator I have ever heard even the content is mindblowing
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sneha
- 30-03-20
Excellent
Excellent facts and stats!!!! Amazing book...Worth a read for sure...Kept me engrossed... Waiting for more titles
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- shiv
- 27-03-20
gives you chills .. . . ... . . . . . . . . . ..
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . gives you chills , , , , , , ' *
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Arvind Passey
- 27-06-22
An interesting rear-view mirror
The prime focus of the book hovers around the divide and rule dogma of colonialism... loved the book. - Arvind Passey - Blog: www.passey.info
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- TheCalmDev
- 18-03-23
Tharoor Should Have Recorded This Book
There is a strong likelihood of the contents leading an emotional charge in ratings over other aspects like narration.
Clearly the narrator wasn’t comfortable with Tharoor’s lexicon (and that is not a judgment here) but he should have rehearsed better. He always reads till an article and then utters the tongue-twisting word. Overall narration is very dry and staccato; something that takes away from the juicy stories, statistics and research.
Dr Tharoor should have recorded this book himself.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Barry O'Brien
- 25-02-24
Good but could be much better
This is a great summary of all the facts around the dark side of colonialism. Unfortunately, it is a victim of the very criticisms it assigns to the colonists. The British were not a monolithic block, and the very corruption that was expressed in India by the invaders, was also practiced by them in England and towards each other. The East India Company was as much a victim of its employees stealing as much as they stole in India, such that the company went bankrupt and had to be bailed out by the British government. In addition, the politicians and officers of the company fought between themselves and started wars in Europe that led to the tremendous loss of all that was raided from India. The Dutch fared a lot better and to this date the Dutch are still incredibly rich based on 100's of years of careful investment of their colonial spoils. Shashi should read about British history to fully understand the fiasco that was the Raj.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Godugul Lokesh
- 26-02-19
Overall a good listen
Shashi Tharoor has collated the outline of most situations during the British rule in India. The facts provided in this audible is informative. However, the 1940's and beyond only revolve around few Leaders. A lot more should have been said or at least he could have acknowledged the roles and sacrifices made by Freedom fighters like Bose (who was one of the integral members of the freedom struggle and also Congress).
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