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White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India | 
 enlarge | Author: William Dalrymple
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $9.74
You Save: $8.26 (46%)
New (33) Used (25) Collectible (1) from $7.19
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 22617
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 014200412X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780142004128
ASIN: 014200412X
Publication Date: April 27, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! NEW Book! May have remainder mark. Most orders ship within 1 BUSINESS DAY with ORDER CONFIRMATION.
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Product Description
Conjuring all the sweep of a great nineteenth-century novel, acclaimed author William Dalrymple unearths the fascinating story of the British Resident at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, James Kirkpatrick, who in 1798 fell in love with the great-niece of the Hyderabadi prime minister. To marry her, Kirkpatrick converted to Islam and even became a double agent working against the East India Company. Shedding light on the many eccentric Westerners during this period who "turned Turk," adopting Indian customs, dress, and religions, Darymple brings to life a compelling and largely unwritten story of Britains rule over India.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
Thank you, Mr. Dalrymple! September 5, 2008
Here is a wonderful book that transcends the categories of history and biography to rise to the level of the truly remarkable. As a jaded reader, rarely do I find a book like this one that demands reading because of the fascination of the narrative and the prose style of the author. The story is grounded in an immense wealth of detail sourced from several languages. This scholarly apparatus is deployed in such an artful manner by the author that it never obstructs the story-telling. And, finally, many of the footnotes are delightful!
The White Mughals March 25, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Another great book from William Dalrymple. Still reading it and find it very engrossing (wish the font size was a bit bigger)
Received it in perfect condition and it arrived in record time too.
Great history October 20, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a fine book set in the period when India came under threat from Napoleon until Nelson intervened at the battle of The Nile. When young English boys were taken out to India for education prior to their careers there it is hadly surprising that some went native. But it was one thing to take a local mistress, quite another to marry a princess. A tragic love story results. The author is clearly more in sympathy with the old policy of The East India Company which banned Christian missionary activity. He regrets the changes brought about by Wilberforce and his Clapham Sect friends which changed official policy towards religion.
Once Upon a Time in Hyderabad ... September 21, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is a complex many-faceted marvel! It is carefully researched history transformed into the story of an ultimately tragic romance. With its portrayal of Europeans astride two cultures, it offers a wonderful, and probably unintentional, counterpoint to the Clash of Civilizations. It is a swarm of all-seeing flies on the walls and writing desks of Hyderabad's elite, both British and Indian, two centuries ago - with their city, dress, festivals and habits brought vividly to life. It is a fascinating description of British and Mughal political intrigue in and around the Deccan as imperial control tightened. It is a sensitive reflection on the rapacious, self-indulgent and precarious lives lived by the British in insalubrious coastal cities like Calcutta and Madras. And as result of the unbelievably painstaking process of meticulous documentation we are convinced that we are seeing events exactly as participants did. It is a mind-blowing accomplishment.
A beautiful book September 11, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a beautiful book. A fascinating love story, a forgotten angle on the British in India, a human and historical tragedy. It's scholarly but warm, thoroughly researched but very readable, broad but not diffuse.
And in one sense it's also very much about the early 21st Century: with respect and good humour, cultures and religions can co-exist and complement each other. So much for the "clash of civilisations" theory.
The "moral of the story" right at the end could have been better placed in an author's preface, and I trust a second edition would pick up the small number of editing mistakes.
Read it.
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