Discover more - Empires in South Asia

If you are interested in the effects of the British empire on South Asia, then have a look at these books. It is a selection that covers politics, power and language.

Ferguson, N. 2004. Empire: how Britain made the modern world. London: Penguin Books, 448 p. Written to coincide with Channel 4's TV series, this gripping book explains the rise and fall of the British empire and its lasting effects on the modern world.

James, L. 1997. Raj: the making and unmaking of British India. London: Abacus, 722 p. Well-researched book on many aspects of India during the British rule.

Metcalf, T.R. and Kailath, S. 2004. Forging the Raj: essays on British India in the heyday of empire. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 317 p. Written over a span of forty years, this set of essays describes the British Raj in India and its effects on land management, politics, architecture and society.

Brockway, L.H. 1979. Science and colonial expansion: the role of the British Royal Botanic Gardens. London: Academic Press, 215 p. This book is about the search for economically important plants by the British during the imperial era of the 19th century. It describes how British botanic gardens developed and the role they played in the spread of plants from one part of the world to another in order to benefit the empire.

	Yule, H. and Burnell, A.C. 1985. Hobson-Jobson: a glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, new edition. London: Routeledge & Kegan Paul plc, 1021 p. This is a dictionary of amusing words and phrases deriving from 19th century colonial India. All entries are followed by anecdotes, stories and quotes to explain their origin.

Rawding, F.W. 1982. Gandhi and the struggle for India's independence. USA: Lerner, 51 p. This is a biography of Mohandas Gandhi, the Mahatma, who played a crucial role in the struggle for Indian independence from Great Britain in the 1930s and '40s.