58. Writing history & India (part 2): Shashi Tharoor & William Dalrymple

Writing history & India (part 2): Shashi Tharoor & William Dalrymple tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about how they write history, how they got started, why history is important, how history is used as a weapon in today's culture wars, & who has the right to write a country's history. Shashi tells us about his least favourite historian. And William dodges some extreme criticism of the bullet-from-a-gun variety & has a happy reunion with a lost manuscript. We also investigate the rumours that the character of Indiana Jones was based on William.

Shashi Tharoor is former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, former Indian Government minister, Member of the Indian Parliament, prolific author & historian. His many books include Riot, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, Nehru: The Invention of India, & An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India also published under the title Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India.

William Dalrymple is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Jaipur Literary Festival, a broadcaster, curator and the author of many books, including In Xanadu, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, White Mughals, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty Delhi 1857, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond (with Anita Anand) & The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company.

Lots of other authors, people & topics get a mention too - JP Martin's Uncle books, Barabar Tuchmann's The March of Folly: Troy to Vietnam, Anita Anand, Stephen Fry, Gabriel Byrne, Samson Kambalu and the 4th Plinth, Americanisms, Captain WE Johns & Biggles, Operations Bellows, Enid Blyton, The Six Solvers, contested histories, the evolution of language, bloodthirsty St Agnes, Cornish & Irish giants, The Goodies, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Narendra Modi, Neil Jordan's Lord Edward and Citizen Small, Victoria and Abdul, & Miki Berenyi (formerly of Lush, & who has an excellent memoir just out fingers crossed: how music saved me from success).

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.