The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857 (Vintage)
by William Dalrymple
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Book Summary Information
Author: William DalrympleEdition: Paperback
Published: 2008-03-11
ISBN: 1400078334
Number of pages: 592
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857 (Vintage)
Book Review: Commendable Research
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read almost all of Dalrymple's books and have enjoyed his impeccable style of narrative. His descriptions take you for why you read his subjects: to walk into history with him following his zest for showing you what other historian will not. His "City of Djinns" (a portrait of Delhi) and "From the Holy Mountain" (his travels to what was Eastern Byzantium, visiting the dying culture of monasteries, etc) and are very well-written and absorbing, specially for me who has never been to Delhi or the present day Turkey, reading both these books was an experience of unimaginable insight.
The Last Mughal is Dalrymple's combination of style with heaps of incredible research, his reference to the 20,000 or so Mutiny Papers in the National Archives in India were something that no other researcher laid his hands on. Dalrymple has smartly dealt with the Delhi during mutiny in microcosm of what the ordinary citizen felt or went through, so much so that he has cast his "net" on people such as sweetmeat shop owners, courtesans, weavers, bird-catchers etc. His research doesn't end here but goes further to Lahore, from where he culled out papers, notes and letters from British General who masterminded the siege of Delhi when it was surrounded by the rebellious sepoys. It is with his indefatigable research and with his years of experience on this subject, that he has produced the Last Mughal and one wonders in awe of its sheer size and volume.
If you're really interested in knowing the socio-political climate of Delhi during the Mutiny (in 1857) and after that read this book to get a hold of the period and also enjoy Dalrymple's best work to date.
Summary of The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857 (Vintage)
In this evocative study of the fall of the Mughal Empire and the beginning of the Raj, award-winning historian William Dalrymple uses previously undiscovered sources to investigate a pivotal moment in history.The last Mughal emperor, Zafar, came to the throne when the political power of the Mughals was already in steep decline. Nonetheless, Zafar—a mystic, poet, and calligrapher of great accomplishment—created a court of unparalleled brilliance, and gave rise to perhaps the greatest literary renaissance in modern Indian history. All the while, the British were progressively taking over the Emperor's power. When, in May 1857, Zafar was declared the leader of an uprising against the British, he was powerless to resist though he strongly suspected that the action was doomed. Four months later, the British took Delhi, the capital, with catastrophic results. With an unsurpassed understanding of British and Indian history, Dalrymple crafts a provocative, revelatory account of one the bloodiest upheavals in history.
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