An Era of Darkness by Shashi Tharoor

Year Published: 2016

Oh no, another Shashi Tharoor book. But what can I say... This guy is unmissable!!! 

History books in school have taught us that the British were terrible most of the time while occasionally good. But were they?? 

Shashi Tharoor's An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India is a thorough dissection of every act of the British in their lives over-two-hundred-year stay in India. He successfully brings out the cons of the pros of British actions in India. He makes the reader doubt whether the British did anything good intentionally for India. 

Vivid description and an informative nature is the strength of the book. However, like Tharoor's other books, this book falls short on one ground- flowery language. Tharoor introduces words that an average reader may not be familiar with, forcing them to constantly switch between the book and the dictionary. Though there may be justifications that flowery language is used to convey the correct meaning and right emotions, the readers' emotions have to be taken into account. Not letting emotions flow freely and understandably undermines the message. The book reminds the reader of this notion.

+: Comprehensive

-: Flowers language as usual

Rating: 9.5/10

Verdict: Indian postmortem of British colonial rule