THE PRACTICE OF HISTORY IN INDIA: Essays in Search of a New Past

Description

In the last few decades, professional historians have raised important questions regarding the theories, methods and practices of history extant since the earliest times. Oral and Visual History have assumed a new importance in our times. To make Indian MA students aware of these historical methods the course Practice of History was introduced in the History Department of Delhi University some years ago. The course includes topics like Modern Historiography, the Annales School, Marxist History and Oral History. This book presents seven essays on history as it can be practised productively in India. It is pedagogically important to students and teachers of history in India. Free from jargon, it is presented in easily readable English. Meant primarily for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students, it will also be appreciated by the lay public. Readers will certainly rethink their historical perspectives in response to the issues of theory raised critically in this book.

Anirudh Deshpande, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Delhi, has authored The British Raj and its Indian Armed Forces, 1857 – 1939, OUP, 2002; British Military Policy in India 1900-1945: Colonial Constraints and Declining Power, Manohar Publishers, 2005; Class, Power and Consciousness in Indian Cinema and Television, Primus Books, 2009; The First Line of Defence: Glorious 50 Years of the Border Security Force, BSF, Shipra Publications, 2015; Hope and Despair: Mutiny, Rebellion and Death in India, 1946 Primus Books, 2016. He has more than seventy academic papers, commentaries, reviews and numerous articles in journals and newspapers such as Indian Economic and Social History Review, Studies in History, Economic and Political Weekly, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Contemporary India, Book Review, Biblio, Mainstream, Caravan, Forward Press and Hindustan Times, Telegraph, Tribune, Pioneer and Amar Ujala. His first novel Dreamt Lives was published in 2018.