Future Shock: how Britain broke India’s industrial spine

Few public figures in India today combine erudition and charm with the effortlessness of Shashi Tharoor.

And both were on full display when the politician and writer took the Algebra stage to serve up a searing indictment of the British Raj and its impact on India’s economy.

In an inspired takedown – one that built on his viral Oxford Union lecture of 2015 – he shattered the mythical pillars on which narratives of British benevolence are built.

The conversation, taking off from his new book, Era of Darkness, was more than a history lesson: it was a fascinating insight into why we are the people we are today. Shashi spoke with passion of the Colonial Holocaust, the 35 million Indians who died because of Britain’s famine policy; the insane taxation; the wilful destruction of India’s steel, shipbuilding and textile industries and the impact of all of this on contemporary Indian psyche.

Watch the full session above and if you haven’t yet read the book, we suggest you buy a copy now.