Peace, Poverty and Betrayal, A New History of British India by Roderick Matthews

Abstract

Reviewed by: Peace, Poverty and Betrayal, A New History of British India by Roderick Matthews Adam Prime Peace, Poverty and Betrayal, A New History of British India By Roderick Matthews. London: Hurst & Co, 2021. In his new book, Peace, Poverty and Betrayal, A New History of British India, Roderick Matthews writes, “… events were more often shaped by opportunism, misjudgements, and mistaken assumptions, especially on the British side.” This idea that British rule in India was inconsistent, haphazard, and often more luck than judgement, is the central tenet of Matthews’ tome. Yet, to term this a “new” history of British India is misleading. The uneven nature of the development of British rule on the subcontinent has of course been previously considered by historians. Most notably, Jon Wilson has written of the chaotic nature of British rule in India in his 2016 tome, India Conquered.i In his work, Wilson took aim at nostalgia, pointing to the fact that what Britons tell themselves today about empire is coloured by their removal from the period and by notions of nationalism and superiority. Matthews, on the other hand, seeks to exonerate himself from the right wing, nostalgic view of empire or the left wing, revisionist view, aiming for a more critical study of empire. In his opening gambit he states: “the point is not to ask whether British rule in India was a good or bad thing; like all governments it can be seen as both.” Yet, by seeking to take a middle ground, Matthews, on occasion, puts forth arguments from both sides of the political fence. Matthews’ strongest work can be found in the opening chapter, where he unpacks a host of key terms related to British India, and empire more generally. For instance, Matthews unpicks the complex term “imperialism,” showing that in the context of British India, it is not a neat term that easily fits with how the British expanded and controlled India. Similarly, the author tackles the concept of “Divide and Rule,” pointing to the fact that it is impossible to properly pin down the policy and that in looking for evidence of a policy almost anything can be brought into the argument. Here, as is his central argument, Matthews asserts British rule was not that neat. After similar unpacking of concepts such as “modernity” and “liberalism,” “masses and elites,” this opening chapter closes with a brief discussion of the 1857 Rebellion. What started as a military mutiny at the military cantonment of Meerut soon spread throughout Bengal. The rebels and mutineers, Matthews claims, had a host of reasons for their actions and variable objectives, and they cannot therefore be taken as one singular group. The point being that the opposition to British rule was as inconsistent and haphazard as British rule itself. What follows is a series of chapters forming a chronological journey through Britain’s initial involvement in India as traders, with the granting of a royal charter to the East India Company in 1600, to their expansion in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, halted by the 1857 Rebellion, which ultimately saw the British Raj and Empress Victoria replace the East India Company. After 1857, Matthews charts the rise of the Indian National Congress, the First and Second World War, non-cooperation and ultimately, partition. As is necessary given the breadth of the book, Matthews’ writing is succinct, yet informative too. He is able to distil complex issues concisely but also keep the book informative while not losing flow or pace. Events such as the 1919 Amritsar Massacre are restricted to just three pages, yet the importance of the massacre is not lost on the reader. As well as key events, key individuals are also discussed. Lord Curzon’s time as Viceroy of India (1899–1905) for example, is considered in terms of his reforms and reviews, events in which he was involved, but Matthews also explores his character, such as his efficiency and energy which drove him forward but also lead him to clash with those he worked with, including Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, Lord Kitchener, a conflict which eventually cost Curzon his role in India. It is to this reviewer’s dismay that...