The Theft of India The European Conquests of India 1498-1765 by Roy Moxham

In the three centuries that followed Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route from Europe to India, European powers made a beeline for India's fabled riches, its spices, gold and gems. Though they ostensibly came for trade and commerce, and the thrill of discovering a new land, the lines between exploration and exploitation soon blurred.

The Theft of India documents the intense rivalry for spoils that played out between the British, the French, the Dutch and the Portuguese, and the impact this had on the Indians. Roy Moxham's work, though, is no dry study of textual materials. He supplements these accounts with an exhaustive study of academic works on the subject. The result is an unflattering picture of the 'civilized' West as it systematically strips India of its riches. The Theft of India is a nuanced, important and highly readable addition to the study of imperialism and its dehumanizing effects on the colonized.

Roy Moxham is the author ofOutlaw (2010), A Brief History ofTea (2009), The Great Hedge ofIndia (2001) and many other books He also taught and examined in the

Institute of English Studies,
University of London. He devotes
most of his energy to writing and
giving talks. He spends half his time
in London and the other half
travelling, principally in South and
South-East Asia.