An Imperial Vision: Indian Architecture and Britain's Raj [Paperback]

Thomas R. Metcalf (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195656024 | ISBN-13: 978-0195656022 | Publication Date: April 18, 2002

An Imperial Vision examines the relationship between culture and power expressed in the architectural forms the British employed in India. From the great monuments of New Delhi to the most obsure structures in dusty country towns, these buildings visibly represented in stone the choices the British made in politics as imperial rulers. Viewed together they enhanced the hold of the empire over the ruler and the ruled alike.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Metcalf (history, Univ. of California) analyzes one of the many ways the British defined their power in India after 1857, when they assumed an imperial role in the subcontinent. Buildings, especially official ones, had to reflect and inspire respect for authority. Simple use of Western motifs was inappropriate, but how "Indian" could architecture be? Addressing that question, Metcalf shows the influences of contemporary British thought on Indian buildings, including those constructed during the final burst of British building that created New Delhi, an imperial city designed to reflect the Raj forever. A definite first-choice purchase for libraries interested in imperial history or India.
- Donald Clay Johnson, Univ. of Minnesota Lib., Minneapolis
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

"Not a catalogue raisonné of colonial buildings but a significant step forward into the new discipline of 'political architecture'--an important advance in widening our perceptions of colonialism as expressed in one of its most enduring forms."--Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, University of London

"Metcalf's An Imperial Vision is an important and original contribution to an emergent genre of research. It builds upon a growing interest in the cultures of colonialism, and hence will be read not only by South Asian scholars, but by all who are interested in this burgeoning field. This is the work of a distinguished historian, who has the imagination and knowledge to see the social, political and cultural interrelation across time and space, and it sets a standard for all who are interested in the complex relations between Europeans and the rest of the world."--Bernard S. Cohn, University of Chicago --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195656024
• ISBN-13: 978-0195656022
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,270,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE RAJ, November 11, 2006

By 

Shannon Deason (Houston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Imperial Vision: Indian Architecture and Britain's Raj (Paperback)

The British really did empire well, they cultivated the trust of their subjects and backed it up with percision military might. The British were fascinated with India and it shows it the imperial architecture, the fusion of Western and Indian Architecture, most of which is spectacular, expecially in New Delhi. This book has wonderful images and well researched text on the architecture of India during the Raj. The British left India with a thirst for democracy and the buildings in which to excercise their freedom. Highly recommended to anyone with any interest in this subject...and buy Imperial Delhi while your at it..that is the definitive book on the subject.