Stephen Platt is one of the exciting young Sinologists emerging from the US. These are 2 of his most recent books. Both, in my view,…
View More Introduction to Western specialists on China’s history (Part 4)
Tag: India History
China and the West
An excellent book slightly marred by an absence of endnotes. It’s a great pity as this really is a wonderfully narrated tale of a friendship…
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Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found
Bombay is the most cosmopolitan city in India. It is also the home of the Parsis of India. Recently, Bombay saw a titanic court battle…
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Is Jinnah a great lawyer? (Part 2)
Jinnah’s skill as a politician has always been scrutinized by his biographers. He is after all The Sole Spokesman for Pakistan. (Ayesha Jalal). He is…
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Is Jinnah a great lawyer? (Part 1)
Is Mohammad Ali Jinnah a great lawyer? This issue has never been subjected to critical analysis by his many biographers. Jinnah the politician has always…
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Gandhi
Hartal is a word unknown to western dictionaries. It is not defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary app, for example. Hartal, as used in English now,…
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China & The Age of The Opium War
Rutherfurd’s China is one of my rare forays into Fiction. Published in 2021 it is a grand saga of several characters swept up by the…
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Jinnah of Pakistan
Pakistan was MA Jinnah’s sole “client” during the last decade of his life. His beloved pretty wife Ruttie had died much earlier in 1929. (p…
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The misunderstood politician – Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Jinnah is called The Father of Pakistan. A portrait of Jinnah hangs in Lincoln’s Inn, London, his alma mater. It was presented by the High…
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Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China’s Last Golden Age
Platt is a master writer. His book is based on prodigious research. He cites original sources. He describes the city of Canton well in his…
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