First published 2026
The British Raj ruled a quarter of the world's population across a vast territory stretching from the Red Sea to Thailand's borders. This enormous empire included not just India and Pakistan, but Burma, parts of Yemen, and Gulf states like Dubai. Dalrymple argues that when this colossal political structure fractured, it spawned the conflicts that plague Asia today. Civil wars broke out in Burma and Sri Lanka. Insurgencies emerged in Kashmir, Baluchistan, and Northeast India. The Iranian Revolution erupted. The Taliban seized control. The Rohingya genocide occurred. The author analyzes five pivotal separations: Burma's detachment, the Great Partition of 1947, the absorption of princely states, Arabia's restructuring, and Pakistan's eventual division. Using archival materials, witness accounts, and new interviews, he demonstrates how colonial borders created artificial nations. The book explains why these imperial divisions remain crucial for understanding current Asian politics and persistent regional conflicts.
Genres: history, international-relations, political-science, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: analytical, geopolitical, scholarly, thought-provoking, urgent
Tropes: archival-research, cause-and-effect, historical-analysis, multi-perspective-narrative
Setting: Asia, British Raj, India, Pakistan, Burma, Yemen, Gulf States, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Baluchistan, Northeast India, Iran, Arabia
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century, 1947, British Empire period, Post-colonial era
544 pages · Paperback · W. W. Norton & Company
Content warnings: colonialism, violence, war