A superb and detailed account of the rise, and eventual demise, of The East India Company and its far reaching effects. William Dalrymple’s account is fascinating and he doesn’t miss out any of the brutal details of the way people were treated during the fight for power. It is quite shocking. An important part of history very well expounded. I listened to this as an audio book and I thoroughly enjoyed Sid Sagar’s narration. Thank you to William Dalrymple, Net Galley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meticulously researched and an enjoyable read. It’s a great window into colonial England. This is narrative history at its best, I’d highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for an advance copy to review.

I'd give this audiobook 4* but the underlying text 2.5-3*: in other words, it's an excellent reading of a book which I'm a bit cautious about.

I should say that I usually enjoy narrative history on audio and Sagar's reading is measured and notable for its clarity, as well as sounding completely confident with the Indian and Mughal names - he has a voice which is very easy to listen to.

That said, I found the underlying narrative confused and jumpy - Dalrymple has clearly amassed a huge amount of material but he doesn't always marshal it in the best way. The opening on the establishment of joint stock trading companies and the creation of the East India Company (EIC) is excellent but then we switch to India and we're suddenly thrown masses of names and information that can be overwhelming. Dalrymple has a journalistic eye for a great anecdote but seems less skilled at summarising necessary background history in order to navigate the complexities and keep the story on track. He likes the more gruesome episodes, for example, of prisoners being tortured before death but rulers appear and disappear before being superceded by their sons and it's fatally easy to get lost - especially when the main thrust is the anarchic breakdown in Indian rule which allows the EIC to exploit the chaos.

Of course, it's important to understand that historical background but Dalrymple seems to lose his way in this complicated story and the result is that there's less about the East India Company that I'd expected from the title and blurb. I'm also a bit wary of the history given the number of seemingly knowledgeable reviews on social media that have called out historical accuracy including basic information such as dates.

I'm a bit on the fence with this one but would listen to Sid Sagar again with no hesitation.