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The King of Sunlight: How William Lever cleaned up the World by Adam
MacQueen. When the sun never set on the British Empire, it was sunlight that kept it clean. This history by an amateur historian and others by professional social scientists and journalists form our pick of non-fiction this year. Between them they explore the range of human achievement, social and political cussedness and the ability of individuals to stand up to the system and change it. It was during the late 19th century that the scientific-minded people from the west discovered that cleanliness could be the panacea for all ills of their world. Taking a plain simple bath everyday and wearing washed clothes after each bath may have been common enough in the mysterious East but it required considerable persuasion from science and commerce in the West. But once learnt, cleanliness was habit-forming. Helping out with the commercial side was William Hesketh Lever who started off as a soap-boiler for the ever-growing textile industry. His firm of Lever Brothers, continues to dominate the market even today. Adam Macqueen gives a tantalising glimpse into the world of William and the growth of the Lever empire as also how the firm soaped the world with mind-boggling growth: 40 tonnes of soap a week in 1885 when it began rising to 14,000 tonnes a week by the end of 1888 with no signs of slowing down. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan by James Tod Historians usually baulk at the counterfactual for within their factual narratives we can find enough insights. In this regard, the beautifully bound reissue of Tod’s Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan is worth a visit. This book, first published in 1832, gives an insight into the working of Rajput chieftains of Rajasthan. Here one can find historical explanations for their rise and fall, of their obduracy in saving face and much else. A sensitive reading will also provide the historical roots of the fight that Jagat Singh and his father Natwar Singh, our erstwhile foreign minister, gave to their opponents in the Congress during the Iraq oil-scam allegations.
The World is Flat, By Thomas L Friedman The two most talked of non-fiction books this year remain the Friedman’s take on the globalised world and the Mitorkhin Archives II. Friedman argues that the most aggressive globalisers of our times are the men and women from India and China who are designing, setting up and manning communication systems for the entire world. In a racy style he says that the only way to free oneself of their clutches is to join them. The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism, by Gavriel D. RosenfeldOften one had wondered about the mental and moral health of our young men who flaunt with pride the black and red Swastika sign of the Nazi party. Then came the amazing announcement by the President of Iran denying the existence of the Holocaust. How and why this happens has been explained with a lot of evidence by the historian Gavriel D. Rosenfeld in his counterfactual history of Europe since 1945. The essential victory of Nazism was, he says, that it found an honourable place in the mindscape of the world even after causing so much horror in the 1930s and 40s. The Mitrokhin Archive II: The KGB and the World by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin A far more turgid narrative is found in the Mitrokhin Archives II. It is as detailed as can be expected from an academically sound book. Most Indians are familiar with its revelations about Indian political parties. Those who feel victimised could take comfort in the fact that when the first volume that had come out in 1999 it had created a similar spy-under-your-bed upset in the British establishment. The India-Pakistan Conflict: An Enduring Rivalry, Edited by T. V. PaulBut resolving conflicts often requires giving up any grace and hope of saving face. If the other party is not willing to give up the fight one should simply show ones back to the conflict even at the risk of losing some status. This is reflected in the collection of essays brought together by T V Paul. A number of scholars apply the latest theories of conflict resolution to make this counter-intuitive point about the Indo-Pak conflict. Burning candles all night at the borders in the hope that they will throw some light on the darkness that envelops the relationship between India and Pakistan may not be enough, they suggest. A Space of her Own: Personal Narratives of Twelve Women, edited by Leela Gulati & Jasodhara Bagchi Individual action may not change inter-state politics but it certainly is important for creating a space of one’s own. No outsider will give it to us. Sometimes this may involve snatching; at others it requires negotiations, even within one’s own family. This simple point is made, repeatedly, in the 12 narratives that form the core of the book edited by Gulati and Bagchi. These women living within the patriarchal system, find constructive, non-revolutionary ways of domesticating their family by marriage. They succeeded a little, passed on some of their skills to their daughters; hopefully the daughters’ daughters will be able to continue the cycle and make for a more emancipated world, say the editors. The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism, by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld Often one had wondered about the mental and moral health of our young men who flaunt with pride the black and red Swastika sign of the Nazi party. Then came the amazing announcement by the President of Iran denying the existence of the Holocaust. How and why this happens has been explained with a lot of evidence by the historian Gavriel D. Rosenfeld in his counterfactual history of Europe since 1945. The essential victory of Nazism was, he says, that it found an honourable place in the mindscape of the world even after causing so much horror in the 1930s and 40s. The India-Pakistan Conflict: An Enduring Rivalry, Edited by T. V. Paul But resolving conflicts often requires giving up any grace and hope of saving face. If the other party is not willing to give up the fight one should simply show ones back to the conflict even at the risk of losing some status. This is reflected in the collection of essays brought together by T V Paul. A number of scholars apply the latest theories of conflict resolution to make this counter-intuitive point about the Indo-Pak conflict. Burning candles all night at the borders in the hope that they will throw some light on the darkness that envelops the relationship between India and Pakistan may not be enough, they suggest. |
