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Nehru's India: A History in Seven Myths has just come out in the US! Read the first chapter free at @PrincetonUPress
press.princeton.edu/books/hardcove…
To mark the occasion, here's a thread with some of the arguments...
Taylor C. Sherman
1,130 posts
Taylor C. Sherman
@TaylorCSherman
Same handle @bsky Professor of South Asian History. Currently researching histories of environmental regeneration, 1940s-present. Nehru and all that, too.
Joined May 2022
- Took my daughter to the library at USyd yesterday. Marvelling at the endless books, she danced through the stacks, threw open her arms and declared, "I'm in heaven". A reminder of how universities are meant to make us feel.
- I resigned my professorship a few months ago. With my three-page resignation letter, I sent 3 books. Call it a resignation reading list for the LSE leadership, who could learn so much from @amiasrinivasan @SaranAhmed and @kate_manne
- 1/2 More than a dozen women at the LSE have held each other up through this. As a full professor with a secure job, I can put my name to our efforts. But let me reassure you, the others are stronger than me. They've gotten jobs. They're writing books. And they are not done.🚨Everyone stop right now and read this article about LSE's appalling response to abusive prof. This has been YEARS in the making: 'Women silenced across ranks: LSE’s mishandled sexual misconduct investigation into professor' thebeaverlse.co.uk/sexual-miscond…
- Job! Two-year teaching post-doc in London with primary focus on India, ideal for someone working on South Asia across the 1947 divide.
- Nehru's India: A History in Seven Myths is published in South Asia today! In spite of the sombre cover, researching this book was a great pleasure. Although the themes are serious, there were many moments of levity that made me chuckle. Here's a lighter fact for each myth:
- First day at my new job. Thanks to everyone at the School of Humanities and Languages at UNSW for being so welcoming...
- My piece in The Hindustan Times laying out new thinking on secularism, socialism and nonalignment in the Nehru years. Available without subscription. hindustantimes.com/75th-independe… @PrincetonUPress @lsehistory
- Two recent positive reviews of Nehru's India: A History in Seven Myths. It's wonderful (and a wonderful relief!) when a Distinguished Professor such as Sumit Ganguly has kind words for one's book.
- Replying to @TaylorCShermanWhat did I do? I listened to the women. I believed the women. I supported the women in their calls for justice. And I asked the senior-most people at LSE to do the same. Nothing out of the ordinary, and yet the hardest thing I've done.
- "Democracy...is a form of everyday discipline among those elected to govern" Reflections on threats to democracy since India's independence:
- Replying to @TaylorCShermanIf you're a woman thinking of applying for the Assistant Professor in Modern South Asian History job recently advertised, these will be essential reading.
- Just spent three amazing days at the @Archives_NCBS in Bangalore, which is shaping up to be one of India's premier archives for the history of science, agriculture, ecology and conservation. This beautiful blue jay is from the Carl D'Souza collection. 1/n
- I've agreed (foolishly, no doubt!) to write a chapter on the history of economic development in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, c.1930s to the present. There's heaps of great research out there, but what do you read for broad brush ideas or histories about Development?
