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Reviews
She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen: British women in India 1600 – 1900 by Katie Hickman
clarex1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
rosy_posy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.25
The Indian mutiny was such horrific reading I'm not sure I could bring myself to read it again. Hickman wrote this very well, and I'd never known how long English women had been present in India before this.
quitekwhite's review against another edition
challenging
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.75
I would have liked a little more background on certain events (although cultural differences are pretty well covered), and although this is a history of British women it would have been nice to hear a few Indian voices in the mix too, just to get a different perspective (though I understand that the sources might not be as numerous or accessible). Of particular note is the coverage of the Indian Mutiny through the eyes of British women, which in places is heart-stopping. It is also quite pragmatic about the wider issue of colonialism. Overall a decent read, but a little background knowledge might be needed by the reader.
sally_ann_t's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.0
roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
3.0
For the life of me, I can't remember how I first came across this book, and it's really bugging me. Oh, well.
This is an interesting one - a very narrow history of British women who travelled to India during the time of the East India Company or under the official rule of the British Crown.
It excels at highlighting the experiences of particular women. There's no end to anecdotes about their lives, with some commentary about general expectations of what life had been like for them. But in focusing on details, "She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen" loses some of the greater picture. The exact situation of British people as a whole on the subcontinent can be inferred to a certain point, but it's never clearly stated. I assumed it's presumed to be known.
It's a very informative book, but I'd recommend already knowing about the history of India before starting it.
This is an interesting one - a very narrow history of British women who travelled to India during the time of the East India Company or under the official rule of the British Crown.
It excels at highlighting the experiences of particular women. There's no end to anecdotes about their lives, with some commentary about general expectations of what life had been like for them. But in focusing on details, "She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen" loses some of the greater picture. The exact situation of British people as a whole on the subcontinent can be inferred to a certain point, but it's never clearly stated. I assumed it's presumed to be known.
It's a very informative book, but I'd recommend already knowing about the history of India before starting it.
verityw's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this more, but I found the writing style hard going. The topic is very interesting and the women who Hickman has found to use as case studies (of a sort) are fascinating, but the narrative does flow and the timeline gets jumbled.
amandar9fa2f's review against another edition
3.0
Covers three centuries of the lives of British women in India and how they got there. Accessible and well-researched. Disappointingly, fewer buccaneers than I would have liked.