Peace, poverty and betrayal, Matthews, Roderick

Peace, Poverty and Betrayal argues that this was not a uniformly systematic approach, but rather a state of being: the British were never clear or consistent in their policies, and among British and Indians alike there were both progressive and conservative attitudes to the struggle over
colonization. Matthews narrative also takes in the East India Company, which was manifestly incompetent as a ruler by 1770, yet after 1820 arguably became the worlds first liberal government. Skillfully tying these ambiguities and complexities of British rule in India to the ultimate struggle for
independence, Matthews illustrates that the very diversity of British- Indian relations was at the heart of the social changes that would lead to the Freedom Struggle of the twentieth century.