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Clive of India: The Life and Death of a British Emperor
 
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Clive of India: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (Paperback)

by Robert Harvey (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 406 pages
  • Publisher: Sceptre; New Ed edition (18 Mar 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340654414
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340654415
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 384,065 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #74 in  Books > Biography > Political > Countries & Regions > Indian Subcontinent

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Product Description

Product Description
‘A dashing biography full of rich detail and sharp comment’
The Times

Robert Harvey has written an in-depth study of the extraordinary man who was one of Britain’s great romantic adventurers. At the age of 35, Clive had conquered the continent of India and established an empire that endured for two centuries. Despite his fame and immense fortune, he died mysteriously at the age of 50. His death was thought by many to be suicide, but Harvey produces compelling evidence that casts doubt on that. With access to unpublished papers CLIVE OF INDIA illuminates the real man behind the myths for the first time.

About the Author
Robert Harvey is a former MP who spent nine years on the foreign staff of The Economist, where he become assistant editor. He has written many books including THE RETURN OF THE STRONG and THE UNDEFEATED. He lives in Powys, Wales and London.

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Adventure, 17 Dec 2000
By Aussie Reader (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
Having read this book when it was first released in Australia last year I must say I am surprised to see that there has been no reviews to date of this excellent story. This book grabbed me from the first page and held my interest to the very end. This is a great adventure story, told with panache and feeling. I was captivated throughout, reading about this great man's humble beginnings though to his campaigns in India where he made the British presence, clinging to a number of small trading posts, into an Empire and then his final demise.

The reader is transported to the far-flung reaches within India where Clive carved out a name for himself against the French and Indian rulers as a man of ambition and ruthless military cunning. His campaigns and battles are told within an exciting narrative that just moved along relentlessly like Clive's Army moving across the plains of India. This is a great story, a masterful piece of historical writing presented by Robert Harvey and I am sure it will be enjoyed by all that love a good history book.

I would compare this book very favourably to the likes of 'Cochrane: Britannia's Last Sea Wolf' by Donald Thomas. In fact I noticed that Robert Harvey also has a book on the market titled 'Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain' which I have taken the liberty in ordering after his outstanding effort in telling the story of 'Clive of India'.

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An Adventures Such As There Has Never Been Since!, 25 Jul 2007
By Darren O'Connell "Darren O'Connell" (Perth, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (Hardcover)
The story of Clive is a fascinating look into history. The story of an obsure young man destined for great things only to be brought down, or very nearly, by his own hubris. Having gone to school in the UK, over twenty years ago, my history teachers taught me that such figures as Clive, Nelson, Wellington et al were almost godlike, it is only now in adulthood and due to the likes of Harvey, that such personalities are actually human, who suffered from many of the defects of personality that we are afflicted with today.

Harvey's work is first rate and we see a glimpse of what life was like in both Britian and India during the mid-18th centuary, and how the planets aligned to catapult Clive into the stratosphere of empire building. The narrative is frenetically paced with the use of eloquent prose and much first hand material. We end up with a comprehensive portait of the man as seen by himself, his contemporaries and those from later historical periods (e.g. Macauley). Clive, according to Harvey, is a man of overwheening self-confidence, ambition, avarice and instability, who fell short of his true potential. The author's adept handling of the subject material is entirely convincing and is a breath air from the blinkered hero worship of yesteryear.

One word of warning, I read this book immediately following Harvey's current work, "The War of Wars". There is a section in the latter work in which the author describes the social landscape of Britain during the later half of the 18th century Britain and this is exactly the same, word for word, as what is written in this work on Clive. Now I don't have an issue with an author re-using his own work but a direct cut and paste?? At least re-write your work so as to retain some semblence of originality! This latest work is, ironically enough, flawed on so many levels that I would tend to avoid it (see my review - I believe it to be Harvey's weakest work to date by a considerable margin).

Whatever Harvey's shortcomings as a writer, none are on display in this work and I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the genesis of the British empire and of this perculiar figure who helped to shape it.
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