The Anarchy, William Dalrymple, 2019

Rating: 5/5

As an Indian, I had learnt a fair amount about the East India Company (EIC) in my school history lessons but after reading Anarchy, I have come to realise that the study was largely superficial — we were fed some broad knowledge of this organisation and the fact that it had looted India systematically over decades. Dalrymple’s book details the nuances extremely well, distinguishing EIC from the British government, and pointing out to the fact that it was the world’s first private multinational and possibly the most ruthless to date.

The book covers the 275-year history of EIC, starting from a meeting of a motley group in London in 1599 to its eventual demise in 1874 – it covers all the significant events during this period as related to India ranging from the roles played by Robert Clive, Warren Hastings and Richard Wellesley and by the French to the fall of the Mughal empire and the rise and fall of the Marathas and of Tipu Sultan, and takes about a fifth of the book to lay the background to EIC’s first military manoeuvres. 

Dalrymple’s detailing throughout the book has been excellent and he quotes liberally from texts and letters of those times – the research that he has put in clearly shows. An added bonus is the list of the “dramatis personae” that he lists -- a few of the Indian rulers, EIC’s officials and the British administrators. Despite having been schooled in the Indian education system, I was unaware of quite a few of them. India has been his adopted home for the past few decades and his fondness for the country clearly shows through as well.

There are parts of the book that do tend to get tiring, especially the second quarter of the book, and some of the descriptions of the political manoeuvres do get repetitive. However, while this is a book on history, his writing is pacy at most times, lending the book a story-telling note that makes it more interesting.

While this book essentially is one about history, the analogy with modern corporates and the perils of their uncontrolled behaviour and the necessity for governments to bail them out cannot be missed. And this makes the book that much more interesting!

Pros: Well-detailed, informative, well-written

Cons: Drags a bit sometimes