The Lemon Fool

Having just started the doorstep (480 pages) that is "The Last Mughal: The Fall of Delhi 1857" by William Dalrymple, a good friend has lent me his copy of "Stalingrad" (a novel) by Vasily Grossman. At 900 pages long, there is some heavy lifting going in the upcoming weeks for sure.

The Last Muhgal has started off (the first 70 pages) in a truly engrossing style and immediately one can see the effect on current political relationships between the countries that colonial rule had. Dalrymple is an excellent author, I have read "Return of a King" which details the catastrophe of British policy in Afghanistan in the 1800's which was replicated by the catastrophe of British policy in India in the 1800's (anyone detect a pattern here?).

Having read "Life & Fate" (which was arrested by the Communist party - not the author, the book and all its printing paraphernalia, how bizarre is that?) and "Everything Flows" by Grossman, I am anticipating a poetic, deep and sometimes heartrending read of his take on Stalingrad. He served as a journalist there for a about six months in 42/43 so has first hand knowledge of the courage, bravery and idiocy of the battle.

I hope you enjoy The Last Mughal. I read it when it was first published and enjoyed it very much. In fact I think I have read all of Dalrymple's books except the latest, The Anarchy, about the East India Company. I have it in my pile to read. It is not I think a history of the EIC as such, but more about how it conquered India, which is very much Dalrymple's specialty these days.

India has become a big genre these days probably helped by the scholarship of Dalrymple but there are a number of other writers around as well.

Dod