William Dalrymple at Topping & Co Booksellers In Review
- Arnaz Mallick
- Oct 15, 2024
- 2 min read
On 26 September, one of Britain’s leading historians, and perhaps the definitive voice on India scholarship in the UK, visited St Andrews to give a talk about his book on Ancient India. The works of William Dalrymple are a must-read for anyone at all interested in the Indian subcontinent. Dalrymple also hosts the renowned podcast Empire with Anita Anand. Based in a goat farm outside New Delhi, Dalrymple joined us in St Andrews at St Mark’s Parish Church to give a talk about his most recent book, The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World.
Before Dalrymple arrived for his talk, and I was seated in the pews of the church, besides other readers of his work, a lady next to me pointed out to me a paragraph of his book and said “Look — he’s been very kind about your country.” While this was a somewhat charged statement about Dalrymple’s enthusiasm for India, I couldn’t help but agree. It is clear that Dalrymple’s extensive work on the Indian subcontinent is fuelled by a genuine love for Indian history, art, and culture. When I asked him what made him turn his attention to Ancient India, as opposed to his more routine areas of expertise — North India, the Mughals, Afghanistan — he said that his children complained about him having written the same book four times. But he elaborated that Ancient India and its culture were what he “always loved from the very beginning, since I went to India when I was 18.”
But where most of Dalrymple’s work and writing have focused on empire, colonialism and the conquest of the Indian subcontinent, The Golden Road details something else — just how influential India was in the Ancient World, and how central it was to trade and wealth. More specifically, Ancient India’s tremendous sophistication of ideas and soft power. Dalrymple portrays India in the same light as we, in modern Europe, perceive the enormous influence of the Hellenistic world and its culture. Dalrymple also discussed the fascinating subject of how trade between East and West happened not between Rome and China, but Rome and India.
The event, organised by Topping & Company Booksellers, was undoubtedly an enjoyable and well-structured event. It could have been enjoyed by both avid fans and enthusiasts of Dalrymple, and those looking to immerse themselves in the thoughts and writings of one of Britain’s leading historians today. Following Dalrymple’s talk, the audience were able to ask questions. At the front of the Church was the opportunity to buy the latest book — a first edition — which could then be signed by Dalrymple himself following the talk.
In the short space of a little over an hour, the audience of people who paid to attend this event by Topping and Company Booksellers came out enriched, interested, and fascinated by Dalrymple’s exhaustive research on and passion for the subject of Ancient India. It is not only for the well-researched that this talk was for, but anyone interested in learning more and listening to the words of one of Britain’s greatest historians, who is a delight to listen to.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
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