A New York Times Notable Book of the Year“Robb's ambitions are lofty and, plainly put, it is hard not to be seduced by his prose.”—The Washington PostAs vividly and unflinchingly presented herein with "blood and bone and sinew" (Times Literary Supplement) by Peter Robb, Caravaggio's wild and tempestuous life was a provocation to a culture in a state of siege. The end of the sixteenth century was mar...

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the YearA New York Public Library Best Book of the YearFrom the author of M and A Death in Brazil comes Midnight in Sicily.South of mainland Italy lies the island of Sicily, home to an ancient culture that--with its stark landscapes, glorious coastlines, and extraordinary treasure troves of art and archeology--has seduced travelers for centuries. But at...

Richard Blechynden was a surveyor, architect, and builder in early colonial Bengal. This volume and its companion (Sentiment and Self) use 80 volumes of his diaries and other archival material along with anecdotes, extracts, and stories to recreate histories of everyday life.   While Sentiment and Self explores issues like interactions between Europeans and Indians, race and tolerance, this volume focuses on the position of women, especially concubines, or bibis and their sexual and emotio...

This book analyses the character of British rule in nineteenth-century India, by focusing on the underlying ideas and the practical repercussions of agrarian policy. It argues that the great rent law debate and the Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 helped constitute a revolution in the effective aims of government and in the colonial ability to interfere in India, but that they did so alongside a continuing weakness of understanding and in effective local control. In particular, the book consider...

This book explores the intersection of public and private temporal systems. Examining Calcutta between 1780 and 1830, it reveals how time functioned as both a regulatory mechanism of emerging colonial governance and a deeply personal construct that continued to reflect pre-colonial norms and practices.The author navigates the complex temporal landscape of early colonial Calcutta, where European clock-based standardisation encountered and co-existed with indigenous temporal framewor...

Informative, timely and accessible introduction to the study of South Asia by leading scholars in the field.

First published in 1983, Rural India intends to provide pictures of Indian rural society in the past, from the standpoint of relationships and exchanges between the countryside and the more general physical and cultural context of which it is a part. A predominant theme is control over land and people. Others are the impact of British rule, the political role of local networks and ties, and the response to and internalising of external stimuli. Attempts are made to examine the con...

First published in 1983, Rural South Asia examines questions of change and development in terms of linkages between localities and the outside world. The authors examine the response specifically to the introduction of a ‘modern’ features of production, the importance of physical, cultural and economic communication, and the impact of various development efforts. This book will be of interest to student of South Asian studies, history, economics and agriculture.

First published in 1978, Rural, Protest, Identity consists of eleven essays on modern South Asia. Its concern is with the diversity of the region, to suggest how its study may be enriched by the juxtaposition of various disciplines, and in particular through the examination of familiar subjects from less familiar points of view. Four papers deal with the ruling of modern India. One examines the relationship between the British government and an Indian state, one the legal implicat...

This book looks at agriculture, development, poverty and British rule in India, especially in the Patna Division in Bihar between c.1870–1920. It traces the economic influence of British policies and maps the impact of legal, administrative and scientific interventions to rural conditions and norms in the state.The book discusses British theories and policies of ‘improvement’, comparing them with Bihar’s agricultural practice and socio-economic conditions to draw conclusions about ...

Richard Blechynden was a surveyor, architect, and builder in early colonial Bengal. This volume and its companion (Sex and Sensibility) use 80 volumes of his diaries and other archival material along with anecdotes, extracts, and stories to recreate histories of everyday life.   While Sex and Sensibility deals with larger issues of sexuality, concubines, and dynamics of households in colonial Bengal, this volume deals with life in Calcutta and the re-creation of a British identity. It expl...

The first systematic attempt to introduce a full range of Japanese scholarship on the agrarian history of British India to the English-language reader. Suggests the fundamental importance of an Asian comparative perspective for the understanding of Indian history.