3 Review(s)

From the Ruins of Empire, by Pankaj Mishra, is a book that depicts the revolt against the West and the remaking of Asia. Summary of the Book The Victorian period, viewed in the West as a time of self-possessed progress, was unfortunately experienced by the Asians as a tragedy. Foreign soldiers and merchants destroyed great realms which had once formed the heart of civilization. As the British gunned down the last inheritors of the Mughal Empire, burned down the Summer Palace in Beijing, and humiliated the penniless leaders of the Ottoman Empire, it was evident that a vast intellectual effort was required in Asia to recover from the catastrophe. From the Ruins of Empire allows the reader to see the events of two centuries all over again, through the eyes of journalists, poets, activists and charismatics who have traversed Europe and Asia. Sitting in the midst of wrecks of the old territories, which now seem ruined for all times, caused by the destructive foreigners, these thinkers have conjured up the tales of destroyed empires, along with stories and ideas which lay behind everything, from Indian nationalism to Muslim Brotherhood, and from the Chinese Communist Party to the Al Qaeda. About Pankaj Mishra Pankaj Mishra is an Indian author, known for his works: The Romantics, Butter Chicken in Ludhiana, An End to Suffering and Temptations of the West. He writes frequently for The Guardian, The New York Times, London Review of Books and New York Review of Books. Pankaj lives in London, Shimla and New York.