The Politics of the British Annexation of India, 1757-1857

In one century, the English East India Company annexed over 60 percent of the Indian sub-continent, containing over 75 percent of its people. The essays in this comprehensive study, written by both British and Indian scholars, lay out a range of perspectives on both the process and consequences of this expansive imperialism. The contributors analyze the situations and actions of the Indian people as well as the British people, showing how the Indian states and the classes and individuals within Indian society had decisive parts in shaping British expansion.