FOR ALL WITH AN INTEREST IN THE HISTORY
OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND THE BRITISH RAJ
The British in India Historical Trust presents live and online lectures by authors of recently published books of interest to descendants of the British in South Asia between 1600 and 1947 and all who want to know more about the East India Company and the British Raj. The proceeds from lectures fund annual book prizes for excellence in non-fiction historical writing on British India.
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Online lectures run from November to April and this year's programme is here. They are broadcast via Zoom and are available UK-wide and to an international audience. Lectures from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 series have been uploaded to YouTube as a free resource for all who are interested in the history of the British in South Asia. The playlist is available here.​​​
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The British in India's second live event for 2025 will be an evening lecture on Sir Charles James Napier, conqueror of Scinde and commander-in-chief, India, on Monday 7 July at the East India Club. A two-course meal will be available afterwards for those who would like to stay. Further details are available here.
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If you would like to be informed when booking opens for live and online lectures, and are not already on our mailing list, please sign up for news of lectures at the foot of this page.
FEATURED LECTURE
TUESDAY 15 APRIL 2025 18.30-20.00 (ZOOM)
Fighting Retreat: Churchill and India
Walter Reid
Winston Churchill was closely connected with India from 1896, when he landed in Bombay with his regiment, until independence in 1947. No other British statesman had such a long association with India―or interfered in its politics so consistently and harmfully. Churchill strove to sabotage any moves towards independence, crippling the Government of India Act over five years of dogged opposition in the 1930s. As Prime Minister Churchill frustrated the freedom struggle from behind the scenes, delaying independence by a decade. To this day he is ‘the’ imperialist villain for Indians, held personally responsible for the Bengal Famine. At the Colonial Office Churchill was outstandingly liberal, risking his career with his generosity to the Boers and the Irish, and later speeding up independence in the Middle East. Why was he so strangely hostile towards India?
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Walter Reid was educated at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh. His books include Fighting Retreat: Churchill and India (2024); Neville Chamberlain: The Passionate Radical; Churchill 1940-1945: Under Friendly Fire; and several works on the First World War.​
BOOK PRIZES
Proceeds from lectures fund annual prizes for non-fiction historical writing on British India: The British in India Book Prize and The British in India Military History Book Prize. The results of The British in India Book Prize 2024 are given here and the shortlist for The British in India Book Prize 2025 is given here.
