Interrogating the past

RETHINKING 1857
Edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Published by Orient Longman

This is one among the interesting collections of essays brought out in the 150th anniversary of 1857.

Basudev Chattopadhyay describes the situation of general panic in Calcutta and how the British went about disarming Indians; N. Rajendran that not all was quiet in the Madras Presidency either; and David R. Siemlieh that despite little popular support, disaffection was expressed by the Ahom princes and the princes of Manipur and in the Barak valley. Two essays deal with the differential access of rebels and the British to technology and means of communication and the extent to which these affected the outcome.

The book certainly contributes to our understanding of 1857...

Nalini Taneja
THE HINDU, 11 March 2008