india

Churchill's policies contributed to 1943 Bengal famine – study

"Study is first time weather data has been used to argue wartime policies exacerbated famine The Bengal famine of 1943 was the only one in modern Indian history not to occur as a result of serious drought, according to a study that provides scientific backing for arguments that Churchill-era British...

India’s Amritsar massacre bore the ‘made in Ireland’ mark

"After a long and tempestuous life in the service of British imperialism, Sir Michael O’Dwyer had got used to a quiet life. He endured years of recriminations over the Amritsar massacre which took place on April 13th, 1919. The episode in which British Indian troops opened fire on peaceful...

Row over bid to extend centenary events to cover Ireland and India

"Government board chair blocks effort to mark events in which Britain committed atrocities Members of the government’s advisory board on the first world war centenary are at loggerheads over extending the commemorations to mark politically challenging events such as the Irish war of independence and...

Breaking the silence on partition and British Colonial history (Published 31 July 2017)

Many British south Asian families were caught up in the violence of 1947 when Britain partitioned India. Seventy years on, some are telling their stories for the first time. Kavita Puri is the editor of Our World and presenter of Partition Voices on BBC Radio 4

Britain should stop trying to pretend that its empire was benevolent

Interesting 2016 article from Alan Lester, Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Sussex on Britain's attitude to empire and the racist underpinnings of the view that the empire was benevolent. Published in The Conversation.

Inglorious Empire: what the British did to India

Book review: Shashi Tharoor’s angry history of British rule in India is a timely response to empire nostalgia

5 of the worst atrocities carried out by British Empire, after ‘historical amnesia’ claims

The British people suffer "historical amnesia" over the atrocities committed by their former empire, an Indian MP and author has claimed. Former UN under-secretary general Dr Shashi Tharoor said the British education system fails to tell the real story of empire.