“Chakrabarty’s
writings are always a delight, wide-ranging and unfailingly original.
Here, with a focus on Sir Jadunath Sarkar and his interlocutor, G.S.
Sardesai, Chakrabarty brilliantly probes the creation of academic
history as a discipline and its dialectic with popular conceptions of
the past. This is a book that invites specialist and nonspecialist
alike to fresh ways of understanding the discipline of history, not
only in India but everywhere.”
Barbara D. Metcalf
“A
brilliant and fascinating study. What is particularly impressive is
the humanity of Chakrabarty’s approach to Sarkar, who fell rapidly
out of public favour after his death and was virtually ignored or
even disliked by several generations of younger, more nationalistic
historians thereafter. Elegant, accessible, and nuanced, The
Calling of History
will stand as the key text for the understanding of Indian historical
writing between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries.”
C.A. Bayly
“This
is a wonderful book: at once a deep study of what modernity meant to
some complex and fascinating Indian intellectuals, a rich analysis of
a major scholar’s assumptions and practices, and a compelling read.
Meeting Sarkar will be an unforgettable experience for anyone who
shares his, and Chakrabarty’s, interest in historical research and
writing.” Anthony
Grafton