The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857 (Vintage)

Dalrymple is agreat writer about the history of his beloved Delhi. The tale is a sad one full of horrible crimes and the downfall of a great society, but it also treaches a really good lesson.

An enlightening book which reveals to the modern Indian to what actually happened pre nand post 1857,India.It centers mostly around Delhi,court intrigues,sibling rivalry,British outlook among others.Overall an interesting read which keeps one turning the pages...

Truly encompassing.. a very ring side view of a falling dyanasty. The frustrations of a king without a crown

Amazing. I can no more call the 1857 revold a war of independence. I think the author tried to put history as history and not mix it with fiction.

Definitely the best of the 3 books written by the author on Mughal India. Well researched historical facts on the end of the Mughal Dynasty and the last Mughal Emperor - Bahadur shah Zafar and his family members. The author brings to life the events leading to the mutiny of 1857, the struggle for Delhi and the imperial take over of the same. As each chapter goes by, you can feel the tragic...more

Definitely the best of the 3 books written by the author on Mughal India. Well researched historical facts on the end of the Mughal Dynasty and the last Mughal Emperor - Bahadur shah Zafar and his family members. The author brings to life the events leading to the mutiny of 1857, the struggle for Delhi and the imperial take over of the same. As each chapter goes by, you can feel the tragic loss of the culture and beauty of Delhi and the sufferings of its people through the descriptions of the great poet Ghalib who lived to see it all. A must read!   hide

Read the first few chapters and it is looking intereseting to read. Having stayed at Old Delhi where the plot is set makes it more interesting :) It got stopped with the baby arrival, but now I can resume while she is curdling and quite in my arms!

Possibly Dalrymple's strongest historical work, an even and humane look at the battle for Delhi and what it did, and did not, mean to India and the British.

Certainly one of the best books I have read on the Indian Mutiny and indeed on of the best history books it has been my pleasure to read! I'd highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the period.

this book was excellent, as far as non fiction-history goes. dalrymple uses recently translated documents (from urdu) to provide the conflict from not only a british perspective, but also a mughal perspective and a hindu perspective. the history of this period also sheds some light on the current conflicts in india.