Fractured lens

PIPPA VIRDEE has doubts about an overview of the divisions that created modern states from imperial British Asia

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This ambitious take on Britain's late-colonial presence across Asia is a big-picture view that will appeal to British readers, but also contains enough minutiae to engage readers in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma) and Aden, the areas on which it focuses. In recounting the dissolution of the British Indian empire into 12 modern nations, the book explores the political, military and social upheavals that led to this transformation, highlighting its lasting impact on the region. The book starts with the Great Uprising of 1928 and ends in 1972 with the partition of Pakistan.