# The Anarchy by William Dalrymple

4 Hacker News commenters recommended The Anarchy by William Dalrymple and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A focused, readable history of how the East India Company rose to power in India, recommended as an intro to the 18th century and a counterweight to imperial nostalgia.

## Why people recommend it

- Readable history of British India (1 comments): "I enjoyed "The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company" by Dalrymple, which has a specific focus, but conveys a fascinating history of British involvement with India." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47946387))
- Good intro to 18th century (1 comments): "it was a great intro to the 18th century and how it made the ground fertile for upcoming colonial period" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48901806))
- Offers view beyond imperial apologists (1 comments): "a perspective other than imperial apologists and colonial nostalgics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48908415))
- Changed view of colonisation (1 comments): "it changed my view of the colonisation of India" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48915068))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/163557580X?tag=YOURTAG-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/YOURID/9781635575804) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Anarchy by William Dalrymple", https://hackerapproved.com/p/anarchy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).