Roderick Matthews is a writer and Indian historian. Born in 1956, he studied Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford, and has written articles and reviews for a number of British and Indian publications. His previous books include The Flaws in the Jewel, Jinnah vs Gandhi, and The Great Indian Rope Trick.
<p><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">How can we explain Britain's long rule in India beyond the cliches of 'imperial' versus 'nationalist' interpretations? In this new history, Roderick Matthews tells a more nuanced story of 'oblige and rule', the foundation of common purpose between colonisers and powerful Indians. Peace, Poverty and Betrayal argues that this was more a state of being than a system: British policy was never clear or consistent; the East India Company went from a manifestly incompetent ruler to, arguably, the world's first liberal government; and among British and Indians alike there were both progressive and conservative attitudes to colonisation. Matthews skilfully illustrates that this very diversity and ambiguity of British-Indian relations also drove the social changes that led to the struggle for independence. Skewering the simplistic binaries that often dominate the debate, Peace, Poverty and Betrayal is a fresh and elegant history of British India.</span><br></p>
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