A Corner of a Foreign Field

A Corner of a Foreign Field seamlessly interweaves biography with history the lives of famous or forgotten cricketers with wider processes of social change. C. K. Nayudu and Sachin Tendulkar naturally figure in this book but so too in unexpected ways do B. R. Ambedkar Mahatma Gandhi and M. A. Jinnah. The Indian careers of those great British cricketers Lord Harris and D. R. Jardine provide a window into the operations of Empire. The remarkable life of India’s first great slow bowler Palwankar Baloo provides an arresting new perspective on the struggle against caste discrimination. Later chapters explore the competition between Hindu and Muslim cricketers in colonial India and the destructive passions now provoked when India plays Pakistan.For this new edition Ramachandra Guha has added a fresh introduction as well as a long new chapter bringing the story up to date to cover among other things the advent of the Indian Premier League and the Indian team’s victory in the World Cup of 2011 these linked to social and economic transformations in contemporary India.A pioneering work essential for anyone interested in either of those vast themes cricket and India a Corner of a Foreign Field is also a beautifully written meditation on the ramifications of sport in society at large. About the Author Ramachandra Guha's many books include a pioneering work of environmental history (The Unquiet Woods 1989) an award-winning social history of sport (A Corner of a Foreign Field 2002) and a widely acclaimed and bestselling work of contemporary history (India after Gandhi 2007). The first volume of his landmark biography of Gandhi Gandhi before India was published in 2013 the second and concluding volume will be published in early 2018.Guha's awards include the R.K. Narayan Prize the Sahitya Akademi Award the Ramnath Goenka Award and the Padma Bhushan. In 2014 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in the humanities by Yale University and in 2015 he won the Fukuoka Prize for contributions to Asian culture and scholarship.