Book Review: ‘Inglorious Empire’- Shashi Tharoor
In 1600 when the East India Co. was established, Britain accounted for only 1.8 percent of the world’s GDP while India was generating some 23 percent. By 1940, Britain was producing nearly 10 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and after the British had left, India’s GDP stood at 4 percent. How did one of the wealthiest countries turn into one of the poorest and most backward in the world? “Inglorious Empire” gives a scathing account of what the British really did to India. This brilliant reassessment of the Raj began, in fact, as a debate. At the end of May 2015 Shashi Tharoor was invited by the Oxford Union to speak on the subject “Britain Owes Reparation to Her Former Colonies.” In early July, the debate was posted on the web and Tharoor tweeted a link to it, which went viral. Without any apology, the author tackles the true story of the Raj: The looting of India. India’s gradually dwindling share of the world’s economy begins when the East India Co. was incorpo