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Podcast: New Books in South Asian Studies
Episode: Sam Dalrymple, "Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia" (William Collins, 2025)
Description: Partitionâthe rapid, uncoordinated, and bloody split between India and Pakistan after the Second World Warâremains the central event of South Asian history. But 1947 wasnât the only partition, according to historian and filmmaker Sam Dalrymple.
Sam, in his book Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia (William Collins, 2025), notes that âBritish Indiaâ once spanned all the way from the Arabian Peninsula to the border with Thailand, covering South Arabia, South Asia and Burma. Yet between 1937 and 1971, the region split into various different national entities, creating the countries and borders we see today.
Sam is a...