THE ANGLO INDIANS A PORTRAIT OF A COMMUNITY (HB)

The first Anglo-Indian could
well have been born not long after 20 May 1498 when Vasco da Gama, the
Portuguese explorer, set foot on the shores of Calicut?a whole century before
the British arrived in India. Today, after five centuries of ups and downs, twists
of fate, and turns of destiny, the Anglo-Indian community is firmly
established in its chosen homeland, India. The community has contributed
beyond measure to the nation?s school education system; its soldiers and
officers, teachers and sports stars have captured the imagination of
millions. The Anglo-Indians? love of yellow rice and ball curry, five-tier
wedding cakes, and single-minded faith, rock ?n roll, and railway institutes
is well known. However, stereotypes and romanticized notions of the community
aside, who really are the Anglo-Indians, and what is this community all
about?

Barry O?Brien, an Anglo-Indian with a ringside view and his finger firmly
on the pulse of the community, delves deep into the heritage, culture, way of
life, literature, social mores, and sheer dynamism of the community. There
are four sections in this book: ?A Country Is Colonized, a Community Is Born?
is a historical account of the arrival of the European maritime powers, the
birth of the community, its natural ?Britishification?, and the emergence of
two of its greatest champions, Sir Henry Gidney and Frank Anthony;
?Nationality: Indian; Community: Anglo-Indian? dwells on ?identity and
integration? and the political transformation of the community through the
lens of twentieth and twenty-first-century India and recounts the fascinating
stories of those who left and those who stayed; ?The Anglo-Indian
Contribution to Nation Building? is a chronicle of how Anglo-Indians
contributed (and continue to do so) to modern India; and, finally, ?The Way
We Were, the Way We Are? is a riveting narrative of the community?s culture,
then and now.

The social, cultural, and political history of the Anglo-Indians in India
and the diaspora has never before been told in such a comprehensive,
clear-eyed, engrossing, and enjoyable way. Unarguably, The Anglo-Indians is
the best account yet of one of India?s most remarkable and enigmatic
communities.