It is not a quick read – informative and educational with a whole lot of thoroughly researched facts and data. The history here is much more than what the British influenced school text books taught us. An apology on the 100th year anniversary of the Jalianwala Bhag Massacre is the recompense Tharoor demands.

It is totally impractical for the Brits to return the wealth looted or go through the all sufferings and the blood shed. Towards the end of the book, the author writes about the reparations the English owe the Indians. Trust me, reading history has never been so interesting. Tharoor narrates all this and much more with eloquence.

They never wanted to change India or the lives of the Indians, but only to make money. Tharoor smashes the “Brits did good to us” notion and documents about the famines and the unfair tax system that drained the Indian economy, racism and policies that only benefited the Brits. They treated Indians as subjects and not as citizens, maneuvered to penetrate deep in our society leaving an impoverished economy and finally weakened a solid body by their policy of “Divide et Impera”. The Brits looted a nation that was once thriving in every single industry. Tharoor writes here about the bitter truth of colonization in India. If you are looking for a chronological narration of the rise and fall of the Crown, then this is not one of them. This book is an extended version of Sashi Tharoor’s viral speech “Britain Does Owe Reparations”

An era of darkness author