Description: In this imaginative book, Maya Jasanoff uncovers the extraordinary stories of collectors who lived on the frontiers of the British Empire in India and Egypt, tracing their exploits to tell an intimate history of imperialism. Jasanoff delves beneath the grand narratives of power, exploitation, and resistance to look at the British Empire through the eyes of the people caught up in it. Written and researched on four continents, Edge of Empire enters a world where people lived, loved, mingled, and identified with one another in ways richer and more complex than previous accounts have led us to believe were possible. And as this book demonstrates, traces of that world remain tangible--and topical--today. An innovative, persuasive, and provocative work of history.
Review Quotes: "Spirited, teeming. . . . Jasanoff wants us to rethink the imperial experience." -The New York Times"Astute and moving. . . . As original--and beautifully written--as it is compelling to read." -The New York Sun"A historical tour de force, with wonderfully original and unusual material moulded into a convincing new narrative. Britain's empire will never look the same again."-The Guardian"Instead of concentrating on the 18th-and 19th-century European empire builders. . . . Jasanoff focuses on several ambitious, energetic, and eccentric men who used the East as a way to reinvent themselves....a fascinating and untold story." -The Boston Globe