Synopses & Reviews
A Palladian mansion filled with Western art in the center of old Calcutta, the Mughal emperor's letters in an archive in the French Alps, the names of Italian adventurers scratched into the walls of Egyptian temples. In this imaginative book, Maya Jasanoff delves into the stories behind vestiges such as these to uncover the lives of people, collectors in India and Egypt, who lived on the frontiers of the British Empire during a pivotal century of its formation. From household names like Clive of India and Napoleon Bonaparte to little-known figures such as the circus strongman Giambattista Belzoni or the Swiss mercenary Antoine Polier,
Edge of Empire traces the exploits of collectors to tell an intimate history of imperialism. Jasanoff delves beneath the grand narratives of power, exploitation, and resistance to look at the British Empire through the eyes of the people caught up in it. What does empire look like from the inside out?
Written and researched on four continents, Edge of Empire makes an original and significant contribution to international history. Jasanoff offers a fresh account of European imperialism that challenges received wisdom about how imperial power was asserted in Asia and the Middle East. She shows us that Britain's expansion involved more than the mere imposition of an imperial project over foreign subjects, and that the stereotypical white man's burden ideology emerged only after long years of cross-cultural encounters. Edge of Empire enters a world where people lived, loved, mingled, and identified with one another in ways richer and more complex than previous accounts have led us to believe were possible. And as this book demonstrates, traces of that world remain tangible and topical today.
An innovative, persuasive, and provocative work of history.
Review
"Unlike typical historical narratives of British imperialism, Jasanoff's story only tangentially touches on its military component. It encompasses a different aspect of the empire: collecting Indian and Egyptian antiquities." Booklist
Review
"In graceful prose and with evocative illustrations, Jasanoff scores her points about conquest, collecting, and cultural crossing, offering a thoughtful and highly subtle study." Library Journal
Review
"This is an extraordinary debut. Maya Jasanoff is one of the most exciting historians to emerge in years. Her crackling prose and outstanding research have resulted in a ground-breaking book." Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire
Review
"This is a very clever and wonderfully researched and written book, which
illumines French as well as British imperial experience, artifacts and
culture....An original new voice." Linda Colley, Shelby M.C.Davis 1958 Professor of History, Princeton University
About the Author
Maya Jasanoff was educated at Harvard, Cambridge, and Yale and is currently assistant professor of British history at the University of Virginia. This is her first book.
Table of Contents
Introduction: A World of Empires, an Empire of the World
PART ONE
India, 1750–1799
Chapter One: Conquests
i War of the World
ii Trade to Conquest
iii Clive of India, Clive of Britain
iv Empire Unmasked
Chapter Two: Crossings
i Beyond the Frontier
ii Chameleon Capital
iii Orientalists?
iv Connoisseurs?
Chapter Three: Compromises
i Going Un-Native
ii Settling
iii Staying On
iv Legacies
PART TWO
Imperial Collision, 1798–1801
Chapter Four: Invading Egypt
i A New War, a New Empire
ii Westward Bound
iii Empire by Design
iv Abdallah Bonaparte
Chapter Five: Seizing Seringapatam
i Citizen Tipu
ii L’Alliance Française
iii A Dangerous Liaison
iv The Fall, and After
Chapter Six: The Objects of Victory
i Trophies
ii A Tropical Grand Tour
iii From Kaveri to Nile
PART THREE
Egypt, 1801–1840
Chapter Seven: Rivals
i Expansion Under Cover
ii War and Piece
iii Personal and Political
iv An Amateur Abroad
Chapter Eight: Removals
i The Partisans
ii The Patriot
iii A Clash of Reinventions
iv Gentlemen and Capitalists
Chapter Nine: Recoveries
i The Two Egypts
ii France Redux
iii Preservers and Destroyers
iv Collecting Back
Conclusion: Collecting an Empire
Acknowledgments
Note on Sources
Notes
Index