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Dan Snow travels through India in the footsteps of the company that revolutionized the British lifestyle and laid the foundations of today's global trading systems. 400 years ago British ... See full summary
Dan Snow travels through India in the footsteps of the company that revolutionized the British lifestyle and laid the foundations of today's global trading systems. 400 years ago British merchants landed on the coast of India and founded a trading post to export goods to London. Over the next 200 years, their tiny business grew into a commercial titan. Using the letters and diaries of the men and women who were there, this documentary tells the story of the East India Company, which revolutionized the British lifestyle, sparked a new age of speculation and profit and by accident created one of the most powerful empires in history. Yet inexorable rise ended in ignominy. Dogged by allegations of greed, corruption and corporate excess, by the 1770s the company's reputation was in tatters. Blamed for turning its back as millions died in the Bengal famine, and thrown into crisis by a credit crunch in Britain, the world's most powerful company had run out of cash, sparking a government ...

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Vobei
    Although it puts on the facade of a critical documentary on the EIC, this is clearly a Birtish centric documentray. The whole thing is viewed through a British lens.

    This is ample clear, when the episode ends with claims like the English language has become a legacy and a boon in the globalized world.(This is said by an Indian, but it's definitely not a majority opinion). It's like forcing a man to live on a boat with no means of sustenance and then giving him a fishing rod as a boon. The British may have left a lot of their own legacies to survive and persist in India, but they have destroyed many more that we may have claimed as our own - they just needed time to evolve by themselves.

    The episodes give a vivid account of the tragedies on the British, but why they happened and the things that the British government in India did that may have caused them are glossed over. Maybe this is because the written accounts from the perspective of the British were more articulate, but I had hoped for a more balanced approach.

    It's not a bad commentary, but it doesn't do justice to the Indian people.
  • comment
    • Author: Heraly
    An impressive two part series hosted by Dan Snow who travels to India to interview various folk about the history and influence of the esteemed East India Company. There are stories of sadness and also of jubilation as the UK spread its influence across the oceans to India, and the impact is felt to this day with English being a primary language in India and cricket of course.

    I didn't realize many Brits suffered health and emotional problems working in India for the Company, and some died on Indian soil.
  • Series cast summary:
    Dan Snow Dan Snow - Himself, presenter and narrator 2 episodes, 2014
    Robert Hutchinson Robert Hutchinson - Himself, historian 2 episodes, 2014
    Zareer Masani Zareer Masani - Himself, non-fiction author 2 episodes, 2014
    Subbiah Muthiah Subbiah Muthiah - Himself, non-fiction author 2 episodes, 2014
    Nick Robins Nick Robins - Himself, non-fiction author 2 episodes, 2014
    Saul David Saul David - Himself, professor of military history, University of Buckingham 2 episodes, 2014
    Margaret MacMillan Margaret MacMillan - Herself, history professor, University of Oxford 2 episodes, 2014
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