Book Review

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The Anarchy: The relentless rise of the East India Company
by William Dalrymple. Bloomsbury 2019. (non-fiction; hardback; ISBN 978-1-4088-6437-1)
By the end of the eighteenth century, the East India Company (EIC) had transformed itself within fifty years from a trader in spices and silks to a military power which overcame the rulers and peoples of almost all India. In the author’s words, it was: ‘the supreme act of corporate violence in world history’. Great empires such as the Mughal were subjugated by military might, which was then used to raise taxes. The EIC commanded a security force of 200,000 men – far greater than the entire British army. William Dalrymple’s magnificent account, beautifully written, well researched and documented, and with a helpful glossary, describes the brutal advance of British colonial power across the sub-continent.
Officially, the EIC partnered Indian rulers in a series of negotiated trading arrangements. The reality was different. One EIC-appointed Governor of India was Lord Richard Wellesley (brother of Arthur, later the victor of Waterloo):
‘… he wrote to reassure the Court of Directors that he was not engaged in some vainglorious adventure at their expense: “Although I have deemed it my duty to call your armies into the field in every part of India … my views and expectations are all directed to the preservation of the peace, which in the present crisis cannot otherwise be secured than by a state of forward preparations for war.”
[Wellesley] had, in reality, absolutely no intention whatsoever of keeping the peace. Instead, he was hugely enjoying the prospect of using the directors’ private army to wage his entirely avoidable war against the French-led forces in India.’
Incredibly, this naked power was exercised by a private company run from a boardroom in London. By hook and by crook, strategies emphasising differences between the princes, and which divided and ruled, extracted immense wealth from India. Much of it brought fortunes to individual investors (who became the super-rich of their day), and to financial institutions in London.
Yet Dalrymple’s narrative makes clear not only the political double-speak and criminal extortion which took place in Britain’s name, but also the immense suffering of India’s hungry population as a result of war, plunder, hikes in taxation and other injustices.
As the many colour illustrations in The Anarchy show, cultures were denuded. Alongside fascinating examples of Indian art one also finds the painting by Benjamin West, Shah Alam Conveying the Gift of the Diwani to Lord Clive. The Shah’s court gleams with gold and silver in richly ornamented furnishings and clothing, yet Dalrymple observes: ‘Today we would call this an act of involuntary privatisation. The scroll is an order by the Emperor to dismiss the Mughal revenue officials in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and replace them with a set of English traders appointed by [Governor] Clive.’
The EIC became ‘too big to fail’. Eventually the British government was forced to intervene. The glory of Empire was for many years trumpeted vigorously, but Britain’s shameful reputation and the deeper resentments induced will outlast it.
Ray

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Everything I Never Told You
by Celeste Ng. Abacus 2014. (fiction; paperback; ISBN 978 0349 134284)
‘Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.’ It is the novel’s opening line, beginning almost where other novels might end. ‘They’, of course, are the teenager’s family, and to a great extent it is the thoughts, feelings, experiences and personal histories of the parents, Marilyn and James, and of the other children, Nath and Hannah, which the story richly explores. As much as all the grief and terrible sense of loss the family naturally feels, what troubles them and begins to pull this home apart, is the nagging question of why Lydia drowned in the nearby lake. The novel dispenses almost entirely with police procedures and officialdom in order to explore how the main characters try to explain this dreadful circumstance to themselves. The story is carefully told through their individual perspectives, for each has fragments of knowledge or understanding to contribute to the whole, until by the end the reader alone knows the ‘everything’ of the title.
Another interesting factor is that the family is Chinese-American, living in 1970s Ohio, and that – despite their various attempts to conform – society seems to marginalise them, contriving always to put them into some sort of normative box. The father, Professor James Lee, was born in the USA of Chinese parents, but is still asked the difference between a spring roll and an egg roll. Marilyn’s mother more or less disowns her son-in-law at the marriage ceremony. Brother and sister always sit together on the school bus. The pressure, it emerges, is on the one hand not to stand out as different, and on the other to excel beyond mere success. Hannah, the youngest daughter, while spared the pressure, is meanwhile given little love or attention.
Everything I never Told You is a moving and rewarding tale, whose measured pace allows the reader to piece together meaning without simple attributions of blame. I look forward to reading the author’s Little Fires Everywhere (2017), which has received similar praise.
Ray

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This book is about a young girl called Willow Moss who lives in a world called Starfell where some people have magical powers.Willow hasa power.Finding things that are lost.She really under value her power in the beginning of the book ,(This would be a great ability for me.)One day,Tuesday goes missing and no one can remember what they did on that day.Willow sets out to find the missing day with Moreg Vaine,an infamous witch who is consider crazy.
Pros
1.I really liked Willow’s character development in the story.For instance in the beginning she starts out as a girl who underestimate her powers and herself but at the end of story she does not let people walk all over her.
2.In the stories,there is quite a few minor characters who you get to know really well and characters with a great courage in them.
Cons
1.The only dislike about this book is that there is loads of characters which makes it hard to remember all of them.
Therefore,I give this book 3.5 stars.

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The Mapmakers Race is about these group of kids who have lost their mother due to a train.They are on the train for the Mapmakers Race .The race is for who can survive the longest and quickest to the finish line.They meet friends and foe on this journey.I think this is great book as a member of the scouting community and generally as a person.My favourite part was when they discovered their little sisters talent.I give this book a 10 out of 10.

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There are 7 books altogether in the series. My personal favorite would have to be The Philosopher’s Stone because it is like discovering something new on every page and getting to know more about the wonderful wizarding world. These books are suitable for 7 year olds and above. In the Harry Potter books there is a boy named Harry and he finds out he is a young wizard on his 11th birthday and goes to a magical school for witches and wizards. On the train there he meets one of his best friends called Ron and then at Hogwarts they become friends with a girl called Hermione. But there is an evil villain called Voldemort and he tries to take over not just the wizarding land , but the whole world. With help from their headmaster Harry tries to trace back his history to help them bring an end to this evil monster. Can they stop this demon that is bringing an end to the world?