Subjects:  1. Asia - India    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. India    5. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. India    2. Other prose: 16th to 18th centuries    3. Other prose: 19th century    4. Other prose: from c 1900 -    5. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY   

Subjects:  1. Asia - India    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (6)

History Illuminated
The book starts off with a short but very enjoyable foreward by Anita Desai. And then Ms. Dutta takes over. It is obvious Ms. Dutta, does not live in Calcutta any more (she is a resident of London). For she has that detached enjoyment given to those who look back and decide what is enjoyable while the unpleasant parts fade into memory.
Interesting read, better if you're a Bengali
One of the best aspects of this book, in my opinion, is that it is definitely not a celebration of the city and its ways. In fact, at times, Dutta is blatantly unsympathetic towards what has been - but by and large, it is an unbiased work, grand in its scope, addresses intangibles like culture, and threads together events, perhaps inconsequential in terms of political history, but definitely meaningful in making the city a little bit more than the sum of its history and people.
Calcuttans:RISE and stop the ghouls from maligning your city
It was heartening to see C Sengoopta take on David Foley with some uncharacteristic vim - despite the fanciful spelling of his surname I presume he is a Bengali. We have let the world malign our fair city for too long - we are meek and we are reluctant/afraid to challenge the west. Ashutosh Chatterji says falteringly 'perhaps unwittingly' the perpetrators have heaped insult on Calcutta. He knows as well as I do it was Mother Teresa and her extra-ordinary propaganda machinery that caused Calcutta to have become a metaphor for extreme degradation and squalor. It is the likes of David Foley that seek only poverty in Calcutta who are dispppointed to find a book which talks about a different aspect of the city. Shock, Horror! If this book gets to be known what would the Foleys of this world do? What would happen to the billion dollar Catholic charity industry which feeds like vultures on other people's misery - real and supposed? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History: World    2. Asian studies    3. Cultural studies    4. India    5. Literary studies: general    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Social Science    3. Sociology    4. Sociology - General    5. History / Asia    6. India    7. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. Asia - India & South Asia    2. General    3. Historical - General    4. History    5. History: World    6. ASIA    7. India    8. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY    9. Reference   

Subjects:  1. Travel   

Subjects:  1. India    2. Travel & holiday guides    3. Walking, hiking, trekking   

Subjects:  1. India    2. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. (Owed D.),    2. 1906-    3. 1913-    4. Geography (General)    5. Travel    6. Voyages and travels    7. White, E. L. D.,    8. Wright, O. D    9. Wright, O. D.    10. Journeys    11. White, E.L.D    12. Wright, O.D   

Subjects:  1. India    2. Travel writing   

Reviews (3)

Dated but very worthwhile
Alas, many faint-hearted tourists hit the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort, but avoid Calcutta/Kolkata like the plague.What a shame, for it is a grand city, the home of India's greatest poets, writers and philosophers.
Colonialist's Portrait
This book is a description of Calcutta from the point of view of a British colonialist.It begins with the history of the city, noting how it was officials from the East Indies Company who selected the site of the city and developed it from wilderness.Later chapters fill out the description of the city by taking up various topics in turn.These topics include economics, population, colonial buildings and institutions, development since independence, and 1960s local politics.
Calcutta in Brief
"Calcutta" was first published in 1971, so it stands now not so much as a portrait of the city, but a description of how things were more than a quarter of a century ago.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - India & South Asia    2. History - General History    3. Asian / Middle Eastern history    4. India    5. Local history    6. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. India    2. Travel & holiday guides   

Features

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Subjects:  1. Suez Canal (Egypt)    2. Voyages and travels   

Subjects:  1. Cummerbund, Cadwallader    2. Journeys    3. Voyages and travels   

Subjects:  1. Voyages and travels   

Subjects:  1. Asian / Middle Eastern history    2. Thailand    3. Vietnam    4. Burma    5. Irrawaddy    6. Colonialism    7. Travel   

Subjects:  1. India    2. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Asia - India    2. Travel    3. India    4. Travel & holiday guides