Flood of Fire cover
Chrestomather. . It is 1839 and tension has been rapidly mounting between China and British India following the crackdown on opium smuggling by Beijing. With no resolution in sight, the…
Two responses to ‘Parallel Journeys’
I received many interesting responses to my post on Turkey's experience of AKP rule and its portents for India under the BJP. Two that were particularly instructive came…
Parallel Journeys? Turkey’s experience of AKP rule and its portents for India under the BJP
1. Back in March 2013, when I received and accepted an invitation to visit Bogazici University, I did not for a moment imagine that my arrival in Turkey would…
‘We had to cross many hills and mountains’: a censored letter about the Burma exodus of 1942
Below is a rare example of a letter written by an Indian survivor of the exodus out of Burma, following the Japanese invasion of 1941-42 (a photocopy of…
Remembering the past: an unfinished conversation
Last week my Twitter feed led me to a thought-provoking piece by Raghu Karnad on Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North.…
Schooning with Dragons 2
Komodo is the kind of island that inspires fantasy. From a distance, the ridge that runs along it …
Schooning with Dragons 1
The Bugis (or Buginese) are one of the great seafaring peoples of the Indian Ocean. Like those other great mariners, the Greeks, they are also great story-tellers: their epic,…
From Yangon
Dr Thant Myint-U is one of Burma's leading contemporary historians. His book River of Lost Footsteps is essential reading for anyone interested in Burma. His 2011 book…
My Foreword to ‘If I Die Here Who Will Remember Me?’
Below is my Foreword to Vedica Kant's fine new book: 'If I Die Here Who Will Remember Me?': India and the First World War published September 15, 2014,…
Eating Arakan-style
Unnoticed by the world at large India has, over the last few years, made massive financial commitments to its eastern neighbour, Myanmar: Mingun Pagoda, Sagaing region …