Confessions of a Thug (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

Philip Meadows Taylor (Author), Patrick Brantlinger (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Oxford World's Classics | Publication Date: October 15, 1998

Philip Meadows Taylor's Confessions of a Thug is one of the most influential works ever written about India and one of the bestselling novels of the nineteenth century. In the course of a confession to a white sahib, the imprisoned Ameer Ali recounts his life as a member of the Thuggee, a secret religion cult practicing ritual mass murder and robbery. Featuring a map, a glossary, and a critical introduction, Oxford's is the only available edition of this important work.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patrick Brantlinger is Professor of English and Cultural Studies at Indiana University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 602 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192880217
• ISBN-13: 978-0192880215
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,756,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating thriller of a book, January 25, 2000

By 

Mohan Marette - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Thug (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

For a British soldier, (Lieutenant) under the services of the Nizam of Hyderabad in the 19th century India, turned writer Philip Meadows Taylor certainly proves his prowess as a writer through this book 'Congessions of a Thug', no wonder the book turned out to be a 'best seller' in 19th century England.

The main character AMEER ALI comes to life at the outset and the story of this 'Thugee' unravels before the reader without much interruption from the author. The story is about plotting,murder and mayhem excuted with precison, conviction, with ease and without remorse for that is the way of the 'Thugee'. Though Ameer Ali and his merry men were social parasites and the very embodiment of evil, Taylor quite successfully managed to bring out the many facets of the man and his men as an impartial observer and master story teller. Lastly, the historical nature of the book can not be overlooked considering the fact that similar group of bandits (called Dacoits) still exists in certain parts of India, Chambal Valley comes to mind.

A fascinating book indeed and worth reading.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great book, horrible version., February 3, 2010

By 

Tim Boston "Tim" (Boston) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Confessions of a Thug (Paperback)

This is a great novel. Sadly, this version of the book is horrid. This book what created using a technology that automatically scans the original and reproduces the text. There are an innumerable amount of spelling errors, which honestly I was making do with because the book was so cheap. Now I come to find out that my copy of the book is missing over a hundred pages.

There is a little warning on the inside cover of the book that reads "We have created this book from the original using Optical Character Recognition software to keep the cost as low as possible. Therefore could you please forgive any spelling mistakes...when in doubt please consult the original scanned book that may be available from out website." This is unacceptable.

Do yourself a favor and read this book online for free. You can find it on Google Books and a variety of other places. General Readers should not make a dime off of shoddy work like this, nor should they get increased web traffic. They are selling books that are incomplete under a the guise of saving the consumer money, when in fact they are milking us for novels that fall under public domain. Avoid at all costs.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Song of Kali from the mouth of one of her devotees, April 5, 2007

By 

Kali "bengaligirl" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Thug (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Ameer Ali was born a Muslim but he was raised to be a devotee of Ma Kali, or one of her Thugs, men who killed in her name and offered all to her, including their souls.

This Ameer's story, of how he became a Thug, of his childhood years, raised in the shadow of death and destruction, brought about by his adopted family, Thugs of Kali, men who slew in her name.

Despite the fact this is a book written in the 19th century, it is surprisingly modern and without too much judgment by the author, who was obviously clearly fascinated with his subject.

When Meadows wrote this book Ameer was a prisoner of the British, he had betrayed his breathen for his own personal reasons, not for money and not out of fear for his life but for revenge, pure and simple.

A book you just can't put down no matter how hard you try.