Edge of empire
Subtitle: conquest and collecting in the East, 1750-1850
By: Maya Jasanoff.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Knopf; Distributed by Random House
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 404
Subjects: Collectors and collecting -- Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- 18th century; Collectors and collecting -- Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- 19th century; Material culture -- Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- 18th century; Material culture -- Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- 19th century; Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- 18th century; Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- 19th century
Description: A mansion filled with Western art in the center of old Calcutta, the Mughal emperor's letters in an archive in the French Alps, the names of Italian adventurers scratched into the walls of Egyptian temples. In this book, Jasanoff delves into the stories behind vestiges such as these to uncover the lives of people who lived on the frontiers of the British Empire during a pivotal century of its formation. She traces the exploits of collectors to tell an intimate history of imperialism, offering a fresh account of European imperialism that challenges received wisdom about how imperial power was asserted in Asia and the Middle East. This book enters a world where people lived, loved, mingled, and identified with one another in ways richer and more complex than we might have believed possible. -- From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. ).