Tall Tales and True: India, Historiography and British Imperial Imaginings (Monash Asia Institute Monographs)

Tall Tales and True: India, Historiography and British Imperial Imaginings is an interdisciplinary collection of eight case studies. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book explores issues relating to the construction of historical narratives. The book presents re-assessments of a number of emblematic people and events in India that appear within the narrative of British imperial power - the Black Hole of Calcutta, Governor-General Warren Hastings, Tipu Sultan of Mysore, Arthur Wellesley and the battle of Assaye, the Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh, William Sleeman and the "Thugs," and the Indian Revolt of 1857-58. The book concludes with an examination of the life of Madan Mohan Malaviya, an ambiguous figure who has been difficult to place in conventional narratives of Indian nationalism.