Shattered Lands

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Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia COMING SOON! Talks and Lectures Author Talk with Sam Dalrymple Thursday, March 12, 5:00 PM Hear from the author of "S hattered Lands," the #1 bestseller in India and a Financial Times, NPR, and BBC History Best Book of the Year. Reserve Tickets “Shattered Lands” presents a history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swath of Asia ― India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait ― was bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known as the British Raj, or simply the Raj. Dalrymple’s book traces the story of how this sprawling dominion was fractured into twelve modern nations in a span of just fifty years, leaving a legacy of war, exile, and division. ~~~~~ A Financial Times, NPR, and BBC History Best Book of the YearA bold and sweeping history of modern South Asia, told through the five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swath of Asia stretching from the Red Sea to the borders of Thailand was bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known officially as the “Indian Empire” or, more simply, as the Raj. It was the British Empire’s crown jewel, home to a quarter of the world’s population. In the span of just fifty years, that empire shattered. Five partitions tore it apart, carving it into twelve modern nations, including not only India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, but also Burma, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. In vivid and compulsively readable prose, Sam Dalrymple presents, for the first time, the whole story of how the Indian Empire was unmade. It’s a story of maps being redrawn in boardrooms and on battlefields, bumbling politicians in London and idealist revolutionaries in Delhi, kings in remote palaces and ordinary citizens swept up in wars and mass migrations. It is a history of ambition and betrayal, of forgotten wars and unlikely alliances, of borders carved with ink and fire. And it has left behind a legacy of exile and division. It began in 1937, when Burma was carved out of India, to devastating result. The partition of the Arabian Peninsula started the same year with the separation of Aden and was completed in 1947 with the transfer of the Gulf States. Also in 1947 was the “Great Partition,” culminating in the largest forced migration in history and the creation of Pakistan, swiftly followed by the partition of Princely India. Finally, in 1971, the fledgling nation of Pakistan was itself torn apart, and Bangladesh was born. Based on deep archival research, previously untranslated sources, and hundreds of interviews in English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Konyak, Arabic, and Burmese, Shattered Lands is an utterly gripping history that offers a new understanding of modern South Asia―one that brings to light the continuing legacy of empire. 16 pages of illustrations About the Author Sam Dalrymple is a historian, filmmaker, and cofounder of Project Dastaan, a peace-building initiative that reconnects refugees displaced by the 1947 partition of India. He graduated from the University of Oxford as a Persian and Sanskrit scholar, and lives in Delhi. Hardcover 544 pages 6.3 x 1.5 x 9.3 inches 1.9 pounds Show more