3 Review(s)

Dipesh Chakrabarty is the Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History and South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. He is the recipient of the 2014 Toynbee Prize, which is given to a distinguished practitioner of global history.“Chakrabarty’s writings are always a delight, wide-ranging and unfailingly original. Here, with a focus on Sir Jadunath Sarkar and his interlocutor, G.S. Sardesai, Chakrabarty brilliantly probes the creation of academic history as a discipline and its dialectic with popular conceptions of the past. This is a book that invites specialist and nonspecialist alike to fresh ways of understanding the discipline of history, not only in India but everywhere.” Barbara D. Metcalf“A brilliant and fascinating study. What is particularly impressive is the humanity of Chakrabarty’s approach to Sarkar, who fell rapidly out of public favour after his death and was virtually ignored or even disliked by several generations of younger, more nationalistic historians thereafter. Elegant, accessible, and nuanced, The Calling of History will stand as the key text for the understanding of Indian historical writing between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries.” C.A. Bayly“This is a wonderful book: at once a deep study of what modernity meant to some complex and fascinating Indian intellectuals, a rich analysis of a major scholar’s assumptions and practices, and a compelling read. Meeting Sarkar will be an unforgettable experience for anyone who shares his, and Chakrabarty’s, interest in historical research and writing.” Anthony Grafton