Maximillian Morch


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Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Fruits Of The Barren Tree” by Lekhnath Chhetri

Fruits of the Barren Tree, a translation of the Nepali-language novel Phoolange, is set near Darjeeling, the hill station in India’s West Bengal synonymous with the Raj, tea gardens and domestic honeymooners. Yet the mountainous region portrayed by Lekhnath Chhetri is a far cry from the clichés and tropes that are so often invoked when discussing the region. The book is one of the few novels set amid the Gorkhaland movement of the 1980s,which saw multiple years of political struggle, often viol
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Empire Building: The Construction of British India, 1690-1860” by Rosie Llewellyn-Jones

While most of the now common histories of the East India Company (EIC) and British India discuss the politics, conflict or culture of empire, Rosie Llewellyn-Jones’s Empire Building: The Construction of British India, 1690-1860 focuses on the physical construction of British India through the buildings that were constructed, the background to their design, the political and economic constraints that shaped their design and how these colonial constructions influenced India’s society, economy and
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “I Feel No Peace: Rohingya Fleeing Over Seas and Rivers” by Kaamil Ahmed

In this remarkable debut, Kaamil Ahmed tells the story of the displacement of the Rohingya from their home in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state and their ongoing search for refuge. This is not a new story, but Ahmed puts the spotlight firmly on the Rohingya perspective and allows them to tell their own story in their own words. The book is an impressive mix of history, political analysis and extensive reportage from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Malaysia. Ahmed charts the Rohingya struggle in Myanmar f
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Return of the Junta: Why Myanmar’s Military Must Go Back to the Barracks” by Oliver Slow

After the Myanmar military seized power on 1 February 2021, the country has been in the midst of a humanitarian crisis The military, who have been a major disruptive force in Myanmar politics ever since independence in 1948, is the focus of Oliver Slow’s new book, Return of the Junta: Why Myanmar’s Military Must Go Back to the Barracks: an overview of the history of the military, its role in politics, education, and the myths and propaganda its members believe and propagate. The book opens with
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Museum of the World” by Christopher Kloeble

While the foreigner in colonial India has become, at least since EM Forster, something of a genre unto itself, the foreigners are almost invariably British and the novels mostly in English. Museum of the World by Christopher Kloeble is something of a novelty not just because it is based on the true story of the three Bavarian Schlagintweit brothers who explored India for the East India Company in the mid-19th century, but also because it was written in German; this new member of the canon appear
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Tragic Nation Burma: Why and How Democracy Failed” by Amitav Acharya

Since the coup on 1 February 2021, Burma (the author’s term) has seen a humanitarian crisis in all regions of the country, with mass displacement and a myriad of human rights abuses. What happened in Burma and how the situation deteriorated to this point is the topic of Amitav Acharya’s new book Tragic Nation Burma: Why and How Democracy Failed. The book is a mixture of analysis and opinion, liberally layered with numerous quotations and interviews with members of Burma’s Civil Disobedience Move
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Anglo-India and the End of Empire” by Uther Charlton-Stevens

In his new book, Uther Charlton-Stevens provides a rich history of the Anglo-Indian community, people of both Indian and British heritage, and explains why this small but important community deserves a greater focus. In this book he outlines the curious identity and relationship of Anglo-Indians with both the UK and India, and explains how they were “never simply the colonisers nor the colonised, but something in between”. Through this prism, he argues, we can re-analyse Indian history through a
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Himalaya: Exploring the Roof of the World” by John Keay

John Keay has written well over 20 books, ranging from European to Middle Eastern history, but it’s his writing on the Subcontinent that he’s best known for. His new book draws on decades of research to provide a comprehensive portrait of the Himalaya from geology and politics to revolution and religion. “History has not been kind to Himalaya,” writes Keay, opening with an account of Younghusband’s bloody expedition, or rather invasion, of Tibet in 1904. Keay then moves onto an explanation of H
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “High: A Journey Across the Himalayas” by Erika Fatland

In her new book High, Erika Fatland traverses the Himalaya. Her journey starts in Kashgar in Western China. From her starting point in Xinjiang, she crosses the border into Pakistan and travels down the Karakorum highway onto Gilgit, Chitral and the Swat Valley. Dropping down to Lahore her journey takes her across the Punjab and into Indian Kashmir, then Leh, Manali, Dharmsala, Darjeeling and Sikkim before venturing onto Bhutan and Arunachal and Assam. Then in a second later trip to Nepal, Fatla
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition” by Aanchal Malhotra

While celebrations kicked off in August to mark 75 years of Indian and Pakistani independence, a second more somber anniversary also took place, remembering the largest human displacement in history, an event which has shaped and defined the sub-continents past, present and future: Partition. While there are a myriad of books on the history of partition, ranging from reportage to political analysis, yet as Aanchal Malhotra writes in In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition,
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Science on the Roof of the World: Empire and the remaking of the Himalaya” by Lachlan Fleetwood

The exploration of the Himalaya contributed vastly to scientific knowledge. From botanical discoveries, to understanding of how human bodies work at altitude, to pioneering the use of new scientific equipment, the mountain range had an immense importance. Yet its hostile environment meant that this knowledge was not easily gained. Moreover these scientific endeavors were by no means apolitical. Empire and imperialism was a central aspect of these activities. Despite the notional purity of scienc
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Everest 1922: The Epic Story of the First Attempt on the World’s Highest Mountain” by Mick Conefrey

The story of George Mallory’s 1924 failed and fatal attempt on Everest is perhaps mountaineering’s greatest unsolved mystery. Last spotted 250 meters from the summit, Mallory and his partner Andrew Irvine disappeared from view and would never be seen alive again. When Mallory’s body was eventually found in 1999, Irvine’s body never was. The mystery of whether they reached the summit before they perished on the mountain has never been solved. Yet this was not Mallory’s first attempt on the summit
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Making Refugees in India” by Ria Kapoor

India is home to more than 200,000 refugees in India today including Afghans, Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils, Rohingya and more. Yet almost counterintuitively, the Indian government is highly skeptical of international refugee mechanisms designed to help conditions for refugees. India has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and has been widely criticized for its treatment of Muslim refugees. Ria Kapoor argues in Making refugees in India that India’s complex relationship with refugees is “born of
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review - “Political Economy of Social Change and Development in Nepal” by Jeevan R Sharma

Nepal has undergone immense social change since 1951 and the end of the Rana dynasty. It has been transformed from a feudal autocratic monarchy to a federal republican democracy. Its politics, society and economy have been irrevocably changed by coups, civil war and political movements. So vast and far reaching are these changes that Jeevan R Sharma dubs them Nepal’s “great transformation”. Political Economy of Social Change and Development in Nepal is an attempt to provide a concise overview of
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Kashmir at the Crossroads: Inside a 21st Century Conflict” by Sumantra Bose

Kashmir, or more accurately, Jammu & Kashmir (JK), is host to a long running conflict dating back to the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Ever since the majority Muslim JK, ruled by a Hindu leader Hari Singh, acceded to India, instead of Pakistan or declaring Independence, a conflict has raged in over the regions future. Sumantra Bose’s new book, a definitive account of the Jammu & Kashmir (JK) conflict, provides a strong historical background alongside an up to date political analysis...
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “The Struggle for India’s Soul: Nationalism and the Fate of Democracy” by Shashi Tharoor

Since the 2014 election of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Hindu nationalists have dominated India’s political arena. What does this mean for those, like Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who have a different idea of India? Tharoor’s vision of India as a pluralistic, secular society contrasts vividly with the ethno-religious nationalist state promulgated by the BJP. The clash between these two competing visions of India is the topic for his latest book. The first part of the book outlines nationali
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Until the World Shatters: Truth, Lies, and the Looting of Myanmar” by Daniel Combs

Resource extraction has been integral to the economy of Myanmar’s borderlands for decades. One of the most valuable of these is jade, mined in northern Kachin state and then smuggled over the border into China. In Until the world shatters: truth lies and the looting of Myanmar, Daniel Combs depicts this extraction, the cost it imposes on civilians and the myriad of uneasy business relationships between parties nominally at war with each other.
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “Hisila: From Revolutionary to First Lady” by Hisila Yami

While in the mid 1990s, with China rapidly embracing capitalism, a Maoist insurgency may have seemed an incongruous throwback to the numerous proxy conflicts that had raged throughout the Cold War. Yet in Nepal, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had never been more relevant. In 1996, Hisila Yami, daughter of a former government minister, went underground to take part in Nepal’s People’s War, as Maoists battled the Nepali state, fighting against a repressive monarchy. 11 years later, Hisilia
Asian Review of Books •

Book Review “All Roads Lead North: Nepal’s Turn to China” by Amish Raj Mulmi

Never in Nepal’s recent history has talk of China been so heated, or controversial, than in recent years. Since India’s 2015 border blockade, which crippled a Nepal still struggling to rebuild from a devasting earthquake, talk in Kathmandu has ramped up about the benefits of a stronger relationship with the nascent superpower to its north. Such a relationship would reset Nepal’s over-reliance on India and bring in a new era of trade and connectivity. This talk is often full of excited chatter of