Myra MacDonald Book Recommendations & Book Mentions
This list consists of recommendations or mentions of books spotted in media, social media accounts, podcasts or other public websites.
Myra MacDonald on X
South Asia specialist. Author of "Heights of Madness", "Defeat is an Orphan", and "White as the Shroud; India, Pakistan and War on the Frontiers of Kashmir."
Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny
Amartya SenMyra MacDonald@kaeshour @dhume Have you both read Amartya Sen’s “Identity and Violence”? Well worth it. Though sadly it also seems to be a product of a more optimistic time.
Paperback, 2007
$16.95$8.48 + Free shipping50% off your first book
India's War: World War II and the Making of Modern South Asia
Srinath RaghavanMyra MacDonald@philmcraig @nesoron @ZareerMasani Have you read Srinath Raghavan's "India's War"? It has quite a lot on the INA and support for them even among soldiers who remained loyal to the British Indian Army.
Hardcover, 2016
$35.00$17.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Stories by English Authors: Scotland
James Matthew BarrieMyra MacDonaldThen Walter Scott decided to romanticise the Jacobites in support of a Hanoverian king and Scotland is still working it out. As ever, the use of history for political purposes has unintended consequences. https://t.co/ObIaItQgNQ
Hardcover, 2017
$30.95$15.48 + Free shipping50% off your first book
The Raj Quartet (2): The Towers of Silence, a Division of the Spoils; Introduction by Hilary Spurling
Paul ScottMyra MacDonaldJust finished reading Hilary Spurling’s biography of Paul Scott (author of The Raj Quartet) after coming across it last week in a second-hand bookshop. (It was published in 1990). Fascinating stuff on pre-war and post-war Britain, writing, and British attitudes to the Raj.
Hardcover, 2007
$35.00$17.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Victorians
A. N. WilsonMyra MacDonaldRereading parts of A.N. Wilson’s “The Victorians”, published in 2002, and am struck by how many of his comments - whether on empire or British ambivalence about Europe - have descended into a far more caricatured form in the present day.
Paperback, 2004
$39.95$19.98 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Not So Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics
Kenan MalikMyra MacDonald@robert_lyman @ZareerMasani @NigelBiggar @Openthemag Probably worth reading in conjunction with Kenan Malik’s “Not So Black and White” which I am half-way through. It traces the modern-day version of racism to slavery and empire. I will read Biggar’s book too.
Hardcover, 2023
$29.95$14.98 + Free shipping50% off your first book
A Turn to Empire: The Rise of Imperial Liberalism in Britain and France
Jennifer PittsMyra MacDonald@aljhlester @GordonJBarclay @JungSabit @SirEyreCoote @VLTTangoOpera @Otto_English @History_Reclaim @Sathnam @DalrympleWill @KimAtiWagner I read it quickly and will read it again more thoroughly. Have you read Jennifer Pitts "A Turn to Empire"? I thought it did a good job of showing why people seize on different elements of empire and time periods and then argue on different premises.
Paperback, 2006
$53.00$28.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book(max discount $25)
The Satanic Verses
Salman RushdieMyra MacDonaldI’d apply that question of choice to Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” – you don’t have to read it. I’d also make the same argument for the Charlie Hebdo cartoons (they shouldn’t be on billboards, but no-one is forcing you to buy or read Charlie Hebdo.)
Paperback, 2008
$19.00$9.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
Barbara DemickMyra MacDonaldJust finished the first of the books I was given as Christmas presents - Barbara Demick's "Nothing to Envy" on North Korea (2010). Excellent. The second half is better than the first half.
Paperback, 2010
$20.00$10.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book