History in Books the world's story, told by its literature

Collection

Empire and Its Shadows

Books that grapple with empire — its rise, its violence, its long shadow on the cultures it tried to claim.

50 of 57 readings · 88%

🖼 14 illustrated 🔈 47 narrated
Introduction to the collection

Empire and Its Shadows

The canonical literature of empire -- and the counter-texts that answer it

Empire produced a literature. That literature told a story about civilisation, mastery, and the right to rule. Then the people who had been ruled wrote back.

This collection reads the canonical texts of empire alongside their counter-texts -- the novels, poems, and essays that answer, rewrite, or dismantle them. Robinson Crusoe beside Foe. The Stranger beside The Meursault Investigation. Heart of Darkness beside Wide Sargasso Sea. The point is not to cancel one side of the conversation but to hear both -- and to notice what happens when the person who was written about picks up the pen.

New posts every Sunday. Subscribe to follow the series.

Published

22 of 57 published. Last updated 13 September 2026.

  1. Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe (1719) — A castaway turns an island into property.

  2. J. M. Coetzee: Foe (1986) — Crusoe retold by a woman, with Friday unable to speak.

  3. Albert Camus: The Stranger (1942) — A Frenchman in Algiers kills an Arab and feels nothing.

  4. Kamel Daoud: The Meursault Investigation (2013) — The murdered Arab's brother gives him a name and a life.

  5. Rudyard Kipling: Kim (1901) — An orphan in Lahore is recruited into imperial espionage.

  6. Rabindranath Tagore: Gora (1910) — A Hindu nationalist discovers he was born Irish.

  7. William Shakespeare: The Tempest (c. 1611) — A duke rules an island by magic, with a servant he calls a monster.

  8. Aimé Césaire: A Tempest (Une Tempête) (1969) — Shakespeare rewritten with Caliban as a colonised man.

  9. Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen): Out of Africa (1937) — A Danish woman remembers her Kenyan coffee farm, fondly.

  10. Chinua Achebe: Arrow of God (1964) — An Igbo priest and a colonial officer each misjudge their own power.

  11. George Orwell: Burmese Days (1934) — The English club in a Burmese town, and the man who wants to be let in.

  12. Arundhati Roy: The God of Small Things (1997) — Twins in Kerala and the caste line their family cannot cross.

  13. Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness (1899) — A steamer goes up the Congo towards Kurtz.

  14. V. S. Naipaul: A Bend in the River (1979) — A trader watches a new African state turn on itself.

  15. E. M. Forster: A Passage to India (1924) — An accusation in the Marabar Caves splits an Indian town.

  16. Salman Rushdie: Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981–1991 (1991) — Essays on migration, memory, and writing from outside.

  17. Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre: An Autobiography (1847) — The same novel read for the colonial money and the woman locked upstairs.

  18. Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) — Rochester's madwoman gets her own account, and her own island.

  19. Adam Hochschild: King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (1998) — The Congo Free State, and the millions who died to fill Belgian rubber quotas.

  20. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature (1986) — The case for writing African literature in African languages.

  21. Dambudzo Marechera: The House of Hunger (1978) — A furious novella out of a Rhodesian township.

  22. Min Jin Lee: Pachinko (2017) — Four generations of Koreans in Japan, never quite permitted to belong.

Coming Soon

  1. Rabindranath Tagore: The Home and the World (Ghare Baire) (1916) — A Bengali household splits over the nationalist boycott. (19 September 2026)

  2. Paul Scott: The Raj Quartet (1966–1975) — The last years of British India, turning on a single assault. (26 September 2026)

  3. Fernando Pessoa: The Book of Disquiet (1982) — A Lisbon clerk's notebook, kept at the quiet edge of a spent empire. (3 October 2026)

  4. Pramoedya Ananta Toer: This Earth of Mankind (1980) — A Javanese student under Dutch rule discovers who the law is really for. (10 October 2026)

  5. Mariama Bâ: So Long a Letter (1979) — A Senegalese widow writes to her oldest friend about the second wife. (17 October 2026)

  6. Ngugi wa Thiong'o: A Grain of Wheat (1967) — On the eve of independence, a village hunts the man who betrayed its hero. (24 October 2026)

  7. Luis Vaz de Camoes: The Lusiads (1572) — Portugal's sea route to India, written up as national epic. (31 October 2026)

  8. Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children (1981) — A boy born at the stroke of independence carries the whole country in him. (7 November 2026)

  9. Keri Hulme: The Bone People (1984) — 14 November 2026

  10. Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart (1958) — 21 November 2026

  11. E. M. Forster: Howards End (1910) — 28 November 2026

  12. J.M. Coetzee: Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) — 5 December 2026

…and 23 more to come.

22 down. 35 to go. New posts every Sunday.

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The Readings

50 books

  1. Twenty-Eight Years on an Island — Robinson Crusoe
    🔈 Narrated

    Twenty-Eight Years on an Island — Robinson Crusoe

    Daniel Defoe — Robinson Crusoe
  2. Crusoe Rewritten Through a Mouthless Friday — Foe
    🔈 Narrated

    Crusoe Rewritten Through a Mouthless Friday — Foe

    J. M. Coetzee — Foe
  3. The Arab With No Name — The Stranger
    🖼 Illustrated

    The Arab With No Name — The Stranger

    Albert Camus — The Stranger
  4. Seventy Years Later, the Brother Writes Back — The Meursault Investigation
    🔈 Narrated

    Seventy Years Later, the Brother Writes Back — The Meursault Investigation

    Kamel Daoud — The Meursault Investigation
  5. The Great Game as Boyhood Idyll — Kim
    🔈 Narrated

    The Great Game as Boyhood Idyll — Kim

    Rudyard Kipling — Kim
  6. The Bengali Nationalist Who Discovered He Was Irish — Gora
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    The Bengali Nationalist Who Discovered He Was Irish — Gora

    Rabindranath Tagore — Gora
  7. Prospero's Island, Caliban's Curse — The Tempest
    🔈 Narrated

    Prospero's Island, Caliban's Curse — The Tempest

    William Shakespeare — The Tempest
  8. Caliban's Curse — A Tempest
    🔈 Narrated

    Caliban's Curse — A Tempest

    Aimé Césaire — A Tempest
  9. I Had a Farm in Africa — Out of Africa
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    I Had a Farm in Africa — Out of Africa

    Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) — Out of Africa
  10. When the Priest Refused the Yam — Arrow of God
    🔈 Narrated

    When the Priest Refused the Yam — Arrow of God

    Chinua Achebe — Arrow of God
  11. The Club at Kyauktada — Burmese Days
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    The Club at Kyauktada — Burmese Days

    George Orwell — Burmese Days
  12. The Love Laws of Ayemenem — The God of Small Things
    🔈 Narrated

    The Love Laws of Ayemenem — The God of Small Things

    Arundhati Roy — The God of Small Things
  13. The Darkness Was Always Here — Heart of Darkness
    🖼 Illustrated

    The Darkness Was Always Here — Heart of Darkness

    Joseph Conrad — Heart of Darkness
  14. The World Is What It Is — A Bend in the River
    🔈 Narrated

    The World Is What It Is — A Bend in the River

    V. S. Naipaul — A Bend in the River
  15. Not Yet, Not Here — A Passage to India
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    Not Yet, Not Here — A Passage to India

    E. M. Forster — A Passage to India
  16. The Cracked Mirror Is the Method — Imaginary Homelands
    🔈 Narrated

    The Cracked Mirror Is the Method — Imaginary Homelands

    Salman Rushdie — Imaginary Homelands
  17. The Caribbean in the Attic — Jane Eyre
    🔈 Narrated

    The Caribbean in the Attic — Jane Eyre

    Charlotte Brontë — Jane Eyre
  18. The Madwoman Had a Name — Wide Sargasso Sea
    🔈 Narrated

    The Madwoman Had a Name — Wide Sargasso Sea

    Jean Rhys — Wide Sargasso Sea
  19. Ten Million Dead, and the Documents Burned for Eight Days — King Leopold's Ghost
    🔈 Narrated

    Ten Million Dead, and the Documents Burned for Eight Days — King Leopold's Ghost

    Adam Hochschild — King Leopold's Ghost
  20. The Last Fortress to Fall Is the Tongue — Decolonising the Mind
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    The Last Fortress to Fall Is the Tongue — Decolonising the Mind

    Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o — Decolonising the Mind
  21. He Refused the Well-Made Postcolonial Novel and Wrote the Damage Instead — The House of Hunger
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    He Refused the Well-Made Postcolonial Novel and Wrote the Damage Instead — The House of Hunger

    Dambudzo Marechera — The House of Hunger
  22. The House Always Holds Its Percentage — Pachinko
    🔈 Narrated

    The House Always Holds Its Percentage — Pachinko

    Min Jin Lee — Pachinko
  23. He Held His Own People to Account — The Home and the World
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    He Held His Own People to Account — The Home and the World

    Rabindranath Tagore — The Home and the World
  24. The System Was Bad. The People Inside It Were Not Monsters. Both Are True. — The Raj Quartet
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    The System Was Bad. The People Inside It Were Not Monsters. Both Are True. — The Raj Quartet

    Paul Scott — The Raj Quartet
  25. The Empire Ended. The Clerk Kept the Receipts. — The Book of Disquiet
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    The Empire Ended. The Clerk Kept the Receipts. — The Book of Disquiet

    Fernando Pessoa — The Book of Disquiet
  26. The School Taught Him Dutch. The Court Taught Him Empire. — This Earth of Mankind
    🔈 Narrated

    The School Taught Him Dutch. The Court Taught Him Empire. — This Earth of Mankind

    Pramoedya Ananta Toer — This Earth of Mankind
  27. Independence Came Home and Found the Marriage Bed Still Occupied. — So Long a Letter
    🔈 Narrated

    Independence Came Home and Found the Marriage Bed Still Occupied. — So Long a Letter

    Mariama Bâ — So Long a Letter
  28. Independence Arrived Before the Village Could Confess. — A Grain of Wheat
    🔈 Narrated

    Independence Arrived Before the Village Could Confess. — A Grain of Wheat

    Ngugi wa Thiong'o — A Grain of Wheat
  29. The Empire Wrote Itself as Epic Before the Reckoning Began. — The Lusiads
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    The Empire Wrote Itself as Epic Before the Reckoning Began. — The Lusiads

    Luis Vaz de Camoes — The Lusiads
  30. The Empire Left at Midnight. The Body Kept the Wounds. — Midnight's Children
    🔈 Narrated

    The Empire Left at Midnight. The Body Kept the Wounds. — Midnight's Children

    Salman Rushdie — Midnight's Children
  31. She Built a Tower to Keep the World Out. The Ancestors Were Already Inside. — The Bone People
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    She Built a Tower to Keep the World Out. The Ancestors Were Already Inside. — The Bone People

    Keri Hulme — The Bone People
  32. A Reasonable Paragraph — Things Fall Apart

    A Reasonable Paragraph — Things Fall Apart

    Chinua Achebe — Things Fall Apart
  33. The Rubber in the Drawing Room — Howards End
    🔈 Narrated

    The Rubber in the Drawing Room — Howards End

    E. M. Forster — Howards End
  34. The Magistrate's Clean Hands — Waiting for the Barbarians
    🖼 Illustrated 🔈 Narrated

    The Magistrate's Clean Hands — Waiting for the Barbarians

    J. M. Coetzee — Waiting for the Barbarians
  35. A Second's Worth of Reflex — Lord Jim
    🔈 Narrated

    A Second's Worth of Reflex — Lord Jim

    Joseph Conrad — Lord Jim
  36. The Devourer and the Law — Doña Bárbara
    🔈 Narrated

    The Devourer and the Law — Doña Bárbara

    Rómulo Gallegos — Doña Bárbara
  37. A Heap of Stones — Pedro Páramo
    🔈 Narrated

    A Heap of Stones — Pedro Páramo

    Juan Rulfo — Pedro Páramo
  38. Writing in the Conqueror's Tongue — Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade
    🔈 Narrated

    Writing in the Conqueror's Tongue — Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade

    Assia Djebar — Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade
  39. The Diagnosis That Outlived the Doctor — The Wretched of the Earth
    🔈 Narrated

    The Diagnosis That Outlived the Doctor — The Wretched of the Earth

    Frantz Fanon — The Wretched of the Earth
  40. The Book the Houseboy Wrote — Half of a Yellow Sun
    🔈 Narrated

    The Book the Houseboy Wrote — Half of a Yellow Sun

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — Half of a Yellow Sun
  41. The Woman Who Bricked Over the Door — A General Theory of Oblivion
    🔈 Narrated

    The Woman Who Bricked Over the Door — A General Theory of Oblivion

    José Eduardo Agualusa — A General Theory of Oblivion
  42. The Silver Wins — Nostromo
    🔈 Narrated

    The Silver Wins — Nostromo

    Joseph Conrad — Nostromo
  43. The Room You Cannot Enter — Kokoro
    🔈 Narrated

    The Room You Cannot Enter — Kokoro

    Natsume Sōseki — Kokoro
  44. The Lens You Cannot See Through — Orientalism
    🔈 Narrated

    The Lens You Cannot See Through — Orientalism

    Edward Said — Orientalism
  45. The Thistle That Would Not Lie Down — Hadji Murat
    🔈 Narrated

    The Thistle That Would Not Lie Down — Hadji Murat

    Leo Tolstoy — Hadji Murat
  46. What the Settler Owes — Disgrace
    🔈 Narrated

    What the Settler Owes — Disgrace

    J. M. Coetzee — Disgrace
  47. The City Where Empires Left Their Rubble — Snow
    🔈 Narrated

    The City Where Empires Left Their Rubble — Snow

    Orhan Pamuk — Snow
  48. The Empire's Chickens Come Home to Roost — White Teeth
    🔈 Narrated

    The Empire's Chickens Come Home to Roost — White Teeth

    Zadie Smith — White Teeth
  49. The Stones Still Hum — Deep Rivers
    🔈 Narrated

    The Stones Still Hum — Deep Rivers

    José María Arguedas — Deep Rivers
  50. The Accusation Needs No Crime — El Señor Presidente
    🔈 Narrated

    The Accusation Needs No Crime — El Señor Presidente

    Miguel Ángel Asturias — El Señor Presidente