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Krishna Dutta explores
these multiple paradoxes, giving personal insight into Calcutta’s unique
history and modern identity as reflected in its architecture, literature,
cinema, and music.
Parts of the books include:
CITY OF ARTISTS: Modern India’s cultural capital;
home city of Tagore, Ray, and Jamini
Roy; College Street and the annual book fair; a city of learning and books.
CITY OF DURGA AND KALI: Kumortuli’s
holy images and the flamboyant annual Durga Puja; Kalighat Temple and Kali,
Calcutta’s divine and terrible protectress.
CITY OF PALACES: Grand colonial monuments and
crumbling mansions of the Bengali babus; an
architectural mix of Palladian, Baroque, Rococo, Gothic, Hindu, and Islamic.
Krishna Dutta was born and
brought up in Calcutta. She has translated Bengali literature and written
several books on Rabindranath Tagore.
Paperback: 256 pages ;
Dimensions (in inches): 0.69 x 8.12 x 5.30
ISBN 1-56656-488-3
Publisher: Interlink Pub Group; (April 2003)
A standard work on Calcutta,
with lots of detail on the momentous events of the 1940s.
ca 393 pages - ISBN 0-14-009557-8
New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 1994.
An odd choice at first
sight, but there is a very interesting chapter n the changes brought to
Calcutta cuisine and catering by the 1940s influx of Americans. (Even a recipe for
Boston Baked Beans.)
403 pages, 38 illustrations - ISBN 0-14-046972-9
New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 1995.
A great book with detailed
introductions to all aspects of Calcuttan history and
culture.
After ears of unavailability
recently reprinted.
281 pages, many great
illustrations. ISBN 0887296327
Maspeth, NewYork: Langenscheidt Publishers, 1991.
232 pages
New Delhi : Vikas Pub. House : Distributors,
UBS Publishers' Distributors, 1997.
Two volumes of detailed Calcutta history sorted
according to subjects. A standard work on Calcutta history.
2 volumes ca 640 pages - ISBN 0-19-563697-X and ISBN
0-19-563696-1
Calcutta: Oxford University Press,1990.
(INR 1390 for two volumes)
992 pages
Calcutta : Firma KLM, 1987.
ISBN:
81-85026-11-4
Calcutta: Marg Publications,
1990
Reprint of 1943 original
edition
ISBN 81-7646-238-1
New Delhi: BR Publishing
Corporation, 2000
INR 2250
ISBN 81-7646-238-X
New Delhi: BR Publishing
Corporation, 2000
INR 1250
ISBN 81-85026-59-9
New
Delhi: Marg
A thorough work on the whole
of Bengali history up to partition, with the main weight on the later colonial
period. About 100 pages, a fifth of the narrative,
concerns itself with the 1940s politics of Bengal. Thus giving vital back ground to Calcutta’s
history at the time.
550 pages, a few illustration.
ISBN 0-19-564767-X
Kolkata (Calcutta): UBSPD, 2001.
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135p. 23cm
Calcutta. Nachiketa Publications. 1974
John Lethbridge, 1994.
Calcutta: Calcutta Stock Exchange
Association, 1940 etc.
Calcutta: Sen,
Ray & Co., 1941.
ISBN 2-86260-673-1 (br.)
Paris : Ed. Autrement, 1997
While not focusing on the city of Calcutta
specifically, this books give a very detailed picture
of Bengal politics (especially at the Provincial Government and Legislative
Assembly level) at the 1930s and 1940s.
Most of these political events thus took place in Calcutta and certainly
affected the city deeply, which makes this valuable background reading for everyone
baffled by the reasons for many traumatic events of 1940s Calcutta.
210 pages, 1 map. ISBN 81-85195-60-9
Calcutta: Minerva Associates (Publications) Pvt. Ltd, 1994
A standard guidebook for Calcutta in the year 1940,
with a wealth of detail from everything to the history of all main city sights
and institutions down to such minute daily facts as bus routes and the price of
a postage stamp.
300 pages, 3 maps, 66
illustrations.
Calcutta: The Central Press, 1940.
Voices and personal memories
of both British and Indians of the last days of the Raj.
Mainly relating to Delhi, but there is some material
on Calcutta as well.
291 pages, some
illustrations. ISBN 0-7195-5686-4
London: Michael Joseph, 1989.
Voices and personal memories of both British mainly
military men of the long fall of the British empire.
The chapter “The end in India” has quite a few bits on Calcutta.
London:
Hodder & Stoughton, 1996.
Voices and personal memories
of British resident fro al over India.
Surprisingly little on Calcutta, but it gives a very good feel of the
British attitude to India at the time.
287 pages, some
illustrations.
London: Andre Deutsch, 1975.
300 years of vignettes written by British residents
on all aspects of (expatriate) life in Calcutta. About 15 of them are relevant to the 1940s.
170 pages, some
illustrations, glossary. ISBN 0-19-562869-1
Oxford University Press,
1992.
246p. 1ill. 23cm
New Delhi. Vikas. c1979
ISBN 81-7211-123-1
New Delhi: Northern Book Centre
1974
New Delhi, 1994
While not focusing on the city of Calcutta
specifically, this books give a very detailed picture
of Bengal politics (especially at the Provincial Government and Legislative
Assembly level) at the 1930s and 1940s.
Most of these political events thus took place in Calcutta and certainly
affected the city deeply, which makes this valuable background reading for
everyone baffled by the reasons for many traumatic events of 1940s Calcutta.
210 pages, 1 map. ISBN 81-85195-60-9
Calcutta: Minerva Associates (Publications) Pvt. Ltd, 1994
393 pages
New York : Columbia
University Press, 1995
Military diary December 7th. 1941 to October 27th. 1944
combined with reflective passages and letters to his wife. Command of the
Chinese-American armies in Burma from which he was eventually recalled; prickly
and bitter 'tough-guy' account; dislike of Chiang K'ai-shek
and Mountbatten; military difficulties, sickness and
disease. The record of
'an outstanding American soldier, wasted on an all but impossible
job… for which, temperamentally, he was unsuited'.
New York: W.Sloane
Associates, 1948,
London: Macdonald & Co., 1949. The British
edition has a second introduction.
Diary covering the time
between June 1943 and March 1947 after that till 1950. Many mention of Calcutta and Bengal
especially during Wavell’s visits to the city. Very little personal items but frank coverage
of political events negotiations during the 2nd world war, the
Bengal Famine, the Calcutta Killings and the lead up to independence.
528 pages, 24 illustrations
Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1973.
with a foreword by Earl Mountbatten of Burma
240p 1map 18cm pbk ISBN:
0552112682
Originally published: as 'Boarding party'. London : Heinemann, 1978
London: Corgi, 1980
History of the Calcutta
Light Horse.
xv, 175 p. ; 8vo.With plates,
including portraits]
Aldershot, 1957.
Not specific to
Calcutta, this book details the achievements of Indian troops in the 2nd
World War. Apart from detailing military
campaigns, it also gives details of the life of ordinary Indian soldiers, and
thus gives an all round picture of Indian involvement on the allied side.
200 pages, 24
pictures, 10 maps (mainly of middle eastern
locations).
London: Eyre
& Spottiswoode, 1945
Real life story of a covert
operation in 1943 to destroy some German navy ships in neutral Goa. The raiders were auxiliary
force (part-time usually British businessmen) members of the Calcutta Light
Horse and Calcutta Scottish.
ISBN : 1557505128
Ingram Book Company, 2001
Not necessarily about Calcutta, but about the
China-Burma-India theatre of operations in its entirity.
Books and information available at this address:
J. F Whitley, Publisher, 3729 Canyon Drive; Coeur
d'Alene, ID 83815,
phone: 208-664-2329. No known
email address.
Surprising story of the part
played by the Tea Planters of North-Eastern India in the civilian evacuation of
Burma in 1942. Many of the refugees moved on to Calcutta.
146pages, b&w photos,
maps & folding map
Calcutta: W.H.Targett
& Co Ltd, 1945.
Not specific to
Calcutta, this book gives a lot of detail on the “Legion Freies
Indien” an Indian volunteer force of the German Wehrmacht, inspired by Neatji Subhas Bose during his time in
exile in Berlin during in the 2nd World War. The author was part of this unit himself and
the book is especially good on the cultural adjustments which needed to be made
by the both German and Indian sides to be able to work together at all. Apart from also detailing military campaigns,
it also gives details of the life of ordinary Indian soldiers in the German
army, and thus gives an all round picture of this unexpected Indian involvement
on the German side.
206 pages many illustrations.
Delhi: Rupa, 2001
Diary covering the time
between June 1943 and March 1947 after that till 1950. Many mention of Calcutta and Bengal
especially during Wavell’s visits to the city. Very little personal items but frank coverage
of political events negotiations during the 2nd world war, the
Bengal Famine, the Calcutta Killings and the lead up to independence.
528 pages, 24 illustrations
Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1973.
IESHR (Indian Economic & Social History Review),
30 (1994)
Diary covering the time
between June 1943 and March 1947 after that till 1950. Many mention of Calcutta and Bengal
especially during Wavell’s visits to the city. Very little personal items but frank coverage
of political events negotiations during the 2nd world war, the
Bengal Famine, the Calcutta Killings and the lead up to independence.
528 pages, 24 illustrations
Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1973.
Diary of Alan Campbell-Johnson from mid Dec 1946 to
the end of June
1948 when he was Lord Mountbatten’s Press Attache in India. As
he was based in Viceroy’s House New Delhi there are only a few mentions of
Calcutta, but they are quite enlightening with regards to the city’s situation
during the final days before independence.
ca 400 pages ca 20 illustrations.
London: Robert Hale & Company, 1951
ISBN 81-7304-516-X
New Delhi: Manohar
Publishers, 2003
Voices and personal memories
of both British and Indians of the last days of the Raj.
Mainly relating to Delhi, but there is some material
on Calcutta as well.
291 pages, some
illustrations. ISBN 0-7195-5686-4
London: Michael Joseph, 1989.
Voices and personal memories of both British mainly
military men of the long fall of the Brioths empire. The chapter “The end in India” has quite a few bits
on Calcutta.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1996.
ISBN 81-86990-63-8
New
Delhi: Voice of India
INR 250
ISBN 81-85604-55-X
Stree, 2003
Collection of academic
writings and reportages, mainly on post independence political developments in
West Bengal. Some articles do reach back
into 1940s history and one in particular “the Second partition of Bengal” is of
great relevance.
12 articles, 223 pages, some
maps.
ISBN 0-19-564767-X
Delhi: Oxford India Paperbacks, 1998.
While not focusing on the city of Calcutta
specifically, this books give a very detailed picture
of Bengal politics (especially at the Provincial Government and Legislative
Assembly level) at the 1930s and 1940s.
Most of these political events thus took place in Calcutta and certainly
affected the city deeply, which makes this valuable background reading for everyone
baffled by the reasons for many traumatic events of 1940s Calcutta.
210 pages, 1 map. ISBN 81-85195-60-9
Calcutta: Minerva Associates (Publications) Pvt. Ltd, 1994
Chandernagore memoirs
of Georges Tailleur the last French Administrator of Chandernagore from 1948 until 1950.
125 p. : ill., couv. ill. ; 21 cm, ISSN 0245-307X
Montpellier: Africa nostra, 1979
656 pages, ISBN: 8176460532
South Asia Books; 1st edition (September 1999)
ISBN: 0861322592
South Asia Books; (November 1990)
L-J Bord,
1984.
Agnès de Place: “Dictionnaire généalogique et
armorial de l'Inde française.
1560-1962.” Versailles: s.l. 1997.
History, sources,
bibliography.
ISBN : 2-271-0527-0.
CNRS Histoire. CNRS
Editions, 1995.
Hardcover edition (1996).
Hardcover edition (2000).
Travel and photobook
Hardback: 111 pages, ISBN: 2742408401
Paris:Gallimard, 30 November 2001
Interesting book with many
details on 1940s events at Chandernagore, a French
colony on the outskirts of Calcutta.
327 pages
Pondicherry: Institut
Francais de Pondicherry,
1997.
Interesting book detailing
the political situation French India especially with regard to Indian
participation. Like French colonial policy
itself it naturally focuses on Pondichéri, but there is quite a bit of detail on 1940s events at Chandernagore which was the first French colony to manage
to leave the French colonial empire.
447 pages, some illustrations, ISBN 2207242080
Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1996.
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Paradise/4243/discoverchandan.html
A history of Chandernagore available online.
Chandernagore: Giri-Doot.
1999
Collection of academic
writings and reportages, mainly on post independence political developments in
West Bengal. Some articles do reach back
into 1940s history and one in particular “the Second partition of Bengal” is of
great relevance.
12 articles, 223 pages, some
maps.
ISBN 0-19-564767-X
Delhi: Oxford India Paperbacks, 1998.
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ISBN 81-86990-63-8
New
Delhi: Voice of India
INR 250
ISBN 81-85604-55-X
Stree, 2003
ISBN 81-86921-23-0
New Delhi: Decent Books, 2003
The book is an autobiography of the author, who
describes his life and surroundings which encompass
many of the memorable things and events which Anglo-Indians readily relate to.
Among the many school’s he attended, Captain Blackford
spent some time at Victoria and later at St. Joseph’s North Point. The book is
informative, interesting and often very funny, and it certainly held my attention.
I was particularly taken by the fact that he isn’t pretentious about being
British despite the inherited influences of his parents, eventually fully
realizing and accepting with pride his identity as an Anglo-Indian.
ISBN: 0646391046
Paperback, self-published in South Australia, where
the author lives
e-mail:
stanblackford@chariot.net.au
http://www.chariot.net.au/~blackford
The autobiography of Esther Mary Lyons whose father was a Jesuit priest
stationed at St Thomas Church Calcutta in the 1930s and 40s. She was born in Dum Dum in November 1940. Her
father tried to resign from the Jesuits to take up the responsibilities of a father
in Calcutta but was refused. He had a
lot of counselling from the British church members at the time to return to
church as a priest and give her up for adoption or to the orphanage run by the Loretto Convent but he refused and instead took her and her
mother to Delhi to start a new life of a family member. A few years later however he left the family
and went back to the United States leaving Mary and her mother to cope on their
own in Allahabad.
Further details at: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~lyonsfab/unwanted.htm
307 pages and 20 illustrations and photographs. ISBN 086786 191 6
The book can be bought from the author through the internet http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~lyonsfab/index.htm
Melbourne, Australia: Spectrum Publishers, 1996
The basic story is
the same as in “Unwanted” above but this book is written more from the angle of
the authors search for her history and her father. It Includes a
chapter on her father and his family in the USA. It also has a chapter on the
author’s discovery of her ancestors in both India and the USA.
Further details at: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~lyonsfab/bittersweettruth.htm
320 pages and about 20 photographs and illustrations
The book can be bought from Low Price Publishers in Delhi: http://www.lppindia.com
New Delhi: Esther Mary Lyons (self published), 2001
British Policy towards German Speaking
Emigrants in India 1939-45. In: A. Bhatti
/ J. H. Voigt (Hg.): Jewish Exile in India 1933-1945. New Delhi 1999
A very detailed book on all
aspects of the history and life of the Calcutta Jewish community.
There is a wealth of material on the 1940s, as this
was a particularly eventful time for the community, seeing both an upsurge in
cultural activity as well as the final decline through migration brought about
by the almost simultaneous Indian and Israeli independence.
246 pages, many
illustrations. ISBN 8177150057
Kolkata: Minerva Assoviates 2001
The lives and memories of
three generations of women from the Calcutta Baghdadi Jewish community.
194 pages ISBN: 1584651695
Calcutta: Seagull, 2001.
164 p. : ill., maps, port.
; 25 cm. ISBN 0953172007
London : David Ashley Pub, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references and index
258 pages, illustrations and maps ISBN: 0951815016
London : Hyman, 1995
More than 50 songs for Shabbat, holidays and special occasions. An historical and musical overview of the Calcutta Jewish community. Authentic photo-collages add a visual dimension to the picture of the Calcutta community.
ISBN 0-933676-24-7 96
see at http://www.haruth.com/AsianIndia.html
300 years of vignettes written by British residents
on all aspects of (expatriate) life in Calcutta. About 15 of them are relevant to the 1940s.
170 pages, some illustrations,
glossary. ISBN 0-19-562869-1
Oxford University Press,
1992.
Editor of the Statesman from
1942-1951 and author of numerous publications.
London:
Ernest Benn, 1966
Autobiography of a member of
ICS working last as under-secretary in the Bengal Government. He was also an emissary of the Communist
Party of Great Britain to the underground leadership of the CPI.
New Delhi: Rupa 1986
Merchant living in Calcutta 1929-1958, where he
worked with Balmer Lawrie
since 1948 as director, and was President of Bengal Chamber of Commerce.
London: BACSA, 1987
(No longer available at BACSA)
Came to Calcutta as a child and founded a firm of
piano tuners repairers and traders.
Frequent writer of letters
to the Statesman.
Calcutta:
Harry Hobbs 1943.
The autobiography of actor manager who came to India
first with ENSA in 1944 and returned in 1947 with his Shakespeareana
Company, which toured all over India.
London: Sidgick &
Jackson, 1986
Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1987.
ISBN 0140096841
Author (born
1907- ) who spent her childhood and youth in Calcutta and the Hooghly area of Bengal
London:
Macmillan, 1987
Actor served in Air photographic intelligence in
India including Calcutta 1940-46
London; Chatto
& Windus, 1978.
London : Penguin, 1988
Author and Aesthete served with RAF partly in
Calcutta in WW2.
London
Methuen, 1970
Detailed memories of a pupil
at the Victoria School Kurseong.
see online at:
http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm
Diary covering the time
between June 1943 and March 1947 after that till 1950. Many mention of Calcutta and Bengal
especially during Wavell’s visits to the city. Very little personal items but frank coverage
of political events negotiations during the 2nd world war, the
Bengal Famine, the Calcutta Killings and the lead up to independence.
528 pages, 24 illustrations
Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1973.
Diary
of Alan Campbell-Johnson from mid Dec 1946 to the end of June 1948 when he was Lord Mountbatten’s Press Attache in
India. As he was based in Viceroy’s
House New Delhi there are only a few mentions of Calcutta, but they are quite
enlightening with regards to the city’s situation during the final days before
independence.
ca 400 pages ca 20 illustrations.
London: Robert Hale & Company, 1951
These are the letters back home of a young
(mid-twenties) Englishman who worked for Jessops
& Co.
steel works in Dum Dum (a suburb northeast of
Calcutta).
His letters are very vivid, detailed, full of anecdotes and he never holds back with his (usually
well considered) opinions, on Indian life, manners and politics. Another great read from a turbulent time in
Calcutta’s history. What make the book
even more poignant is that he came to a rather sad end in 1949 when communist
terrorists famously attacked his factory during a labour dispute. He and 3 others of the white managers and
senior technicians were thrown (alive) into the steel furnaces (a fifth man was
hidden and rescued by the workers).
266 pages, some photos. ISBN 0-921227-04-3
Toronto: West Meadow Press, 1996.
Biography of the founder of
the Oxford Mission compound on DH Road in Behala. The book gives a lot of detail on the life of
Father Douglass who first came to Calcutta in 1894 to set up to Oxford Mission
Students Hostel (also known as “Douglass Boarding”) off Cornwallis Street,
right up to his death in Calcutta in 1949.
167 pages, 7 illustrations.
London: Oxford University Press, 1952.
Extracts of almost 50 years of letters home by
Father Theodore Mathieson a brother of the Oxford
Mission to Calcutta, who from 1946-1955 ran the Hindu Students’ Hostel in
Calcutta and worked among the lepers of the city. In 1955 he took over Father Douglass’ former
position as head of the Behala compound for orphan
boys. The letters are very well written
and edited, and full of lively detail on the daily life of a celibate Anglican
Brotherhood overseas, and in the observations of an Englishman in India, keenly
interested in the Hindu religion, during Independence, Partition and beyond. A time of great change in Calcutta history.
The reviewer Alison Olson writes: ‘In his early years in India the young missionary was very
much an observer of an exotic world and amused by the 'disorderly society': 'if
you want something to be done the best way is to put up a notice that it must
not be done'. He was stunned that the people he met 'have not a good word to
say for the British rule'. Gradually India began to lose some of its mystery
and Theodore some of his detachment. As early as April 1947, he wrote, 'I have
been recently trying to imagine myself an Indian and see how I would like to be
ruled by the British . . . It is when one has thought along these lines for
some time that one can begin to understand the Indian's passionate desire for
freedom at all costs'. Five years later he found himself 'happily fitting into
the Indian way of life'.’
For more details see: http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/books/theo.html
436 pages (the first 65 of which are relevant to the
1940s, but all the rest no less interesting),
12 pages colour illustrations. 12
pages B&W illustrations. ISBN No. 0 9532288 0 0.
Romsey: Oxford Mission, 1997.
Available from:
- Gillian
Wilson gillwil@aol.com, Tel: 01962 865824, £5.00 plus £3.00 P & P,
Cheques
should be made payable to ‘Oxford Mission/Theodore’
- Thameslink, 4 York Avenue, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 3PD,
sales@thamesweb.co.uk, £12.95 + p & p
x, 126 p. ill. 21 cm. ISBN:
0907799485
London. BACSA. 1992
Nursing in war time India; a narrative, based on
diaries with some direct quotation; malaria, dysentery, work, social life.
London: Imperial War Museum, 1986.
London: Headline, paperback, 1988.
Comedy actress and
journalist diary covering January 13th. 1944 to March 20th. 1945 when she did two
tours with ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) to North Africa,
Malta, Italy, Cairo, Baghdad and India. Sights, travel,
audiences.
London: Hodder and
Stoughton, 1989
The wife of a Scottish manager in the Bengal Jute
industry, Eugenie Fraser spent most of the 1940s in Barrackpore.
316 pages, some
illustrations. ISBN 0-552-99418-9
London: Corgi Books, 1991.
Stoke Abbott: Thomas Harmsworth
Publishing 1989
Military diary December 7th. 1941 to October 27th. 1944
combined with reflective passages and letters to his wife. Command of the
Chinese-American armies in Burma from which he was eventually recalled; prickly
and bitter 'tough-guy' account; dislike of Chiang K'ai-shek
and Mountbatten; military difficulties, sickness and
disease. The record of
'an outstanding American soldier, wasted on an all but impossible
job… for which, temperamentally, he was unsuited'.
New York: W.Sloane
Associates, 1948,
London: Macdonald & Co., 1949. The British
edition has a second introduction.
A World War II correspondence from the China-Burma-India
Theatre where Richard Beard was stationed as Army psychologist assigned to the
142nd General Hospital in Calcutta. A pillar to the men he served, Beard was an
astute listener and observer, pleased to be playing his part yet often irritated
about what seemed to him senseless military decisions and inefficiencies. In
daily letters to Reva, he poured out not only his own
longing but also describing life in India and the unfolding drama of war in
painfully exquisite detail tempered with tenderness and humour. She attempts to
keep up his morale with sketches of life at home as a teacher in Findlay, Ohio
coping with shortages and relatives.
The collection of letters have been edited by Elaine
Pinkerton, the daughter of Richard and Reva Beard,
with and introduction by Wendall A. Phillips, Otha Spencer. It also includes several fairly long essays
about the China-Burma- India theatre, which gives the reader a good grounding
on this aspect of World War II.
352 pages. ISBN: 0896724689
Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002
http://www.ttup.ttu.edu/books/calcutta.html
http://www.readsouthwest.com/books/ep_calcutta.html
Fascinating book about Savitri Devi, a western woman who
married a Bengali Nazi sympathizer in 1940s Calcutta. Apart from propaganda work for right wing
Hindu nationalism, she admired Hitler and spied for the Germans and the
Japanese during the war. After the war
she became famous in the world wide Neo-Nazi movement. About three to four chapters are relevant to
the 1940s in Calcutta.
269 pages, some illustrations. ISBN 0-8147-3111-2
New York: New York University Press, 1998.
A fascinating story of a young Danish sailor,
stranded through illness in Calcutta. He joins the City Police and works his
way up the ranks. Later he works for Birla on
Security and finally as a Customs Officer.
231 pages, 38 illustrations - ISBN 0-907799-64-7
London: BACSA, 1999.
There appear to be many inaccuracies in the book,
but it is the only one available to date. The book was originally published in
Calcutta in 1937 by its author.
New Delhi:
Asian Educational Services, 1992 (reprint).
The story of Greek trade in
India and the Hellenic presence in Bengal and Northern India from the time of
the 'company'. This unique account follows the fortunes of notable families such as
the Chiots (Rallis), the Corfiots and the Paniotys from
their origins in Europe to their development and settlement in India.
198 pages, 13 illustrations, 4 maps - ISBN 0 907799
46 9
available through http://members.ozemail.com.au/~clday/bacsabooks.htm
Dr. Pemba, was the son of a Tibetan who worked for the British Agency
to Tibet. Brought up near Lhasa in Tibet he
eventually entered Victoria School, Kurseong. Good
stories are told about a young boy who couldn't understand English and the
problems that he had to overcome in a boys school.
After leaving Victoria School he went on to London where he became the first
Tibetan to become a doctor in 'Western medicine'.
London:
Jonathan Cape
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Autobiography of Ian Stephens the former
editor (1942-1952) of the Calcutta daily, ‘The Statesman.’ Concentrates on the war years 1942-1944 in India, when Japanese
invasion seemed imminent.
London:
Ernest Benn 1966
The book is an autobiography of the author, who
describes his life and surroundings which encompass
many of the memorable things and events which Anglo-Indians readily relate to. Among
the many school’s he attended, Captain Blackford
spent some time at Victoria and later at St. Joseph’s North Point. The book is
informative, interesting and often very funny, and it certainly held my
attention. I was particularly taken by the fact that he isn’t pretentious about
being British despite the inherited influences of his parents, eventually fully
realizing and accepting with pride his identity as an Anglo-Indian.
ISBN: 0646391046
Paperback, self-published in South Australia, where
the author lives
e-mail:
stanblackford@chariot.net.au
http://www.chariot.net.au/~blackford
Dr. Pemba, was the son of a Tibetan who worked for the British Agency
to Tibet. Brought up near Lhasa in Tibet he
eventually entered Victoria School, Kurseong. Good
stories are told about a young boy who couldn't understand English and the
problems that he had to overcome in a boys school.
After leaving Victoria School he went on to London where he became the first
Tibetan to become a doctor in 'Western medicine'.
London:
Jonathan Cape
Autobiography of a member of
ICS working last as under-secretary in the Bengal Government. He was also an emissary of the Communist
Party of Great Britain to the underground leadership of the CPI.
New Delhi: Rupa 1986
Merchant living in Calcutta 1929-1958, where he
worked with Balmer Lawrie
since 1948 as director, and was President of Bengal Chamber of Commerce.
London: BACSA, 1987
(No longer available at BACSA)
Came to Calcutta as a child and founded a firm of
piano tuners repairers and traders.
Frequent writer of letters to
the Statesman.
Calcutta:
Harry Hobbs 1943.
The autobiography of actor manager who came to India
first with ENSA in 1944 and returned in 1947 with his Shakespeareana
Company, which toured all over India.
London: Sidgick &
Jackson, 1986
Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1987.
ISBN 0140096841
Author (born
1907- ) who spent her childhood and youth in Calcutta and the Hooghly area of Bengal
London:
Macmillan, 1987
Actor served in Air photographic intelligence in
India including Calcutta 1940-46
London; Chatto
& Windus, 1978.
London : Penguin, 1988
Author and Aesthete served with RAF partly in
Calcutta in WW2.
London
Methuen, 1970
ISBN 81-230-0964-X
New Delhi: Publications Division, 2002
ISBN 81-7017-387-6,
New Delhi: Abhinav Piblications, 2000
ISBN 81-7167-493-3
New Delhi: Rupa & Co,
2001
ISBN 81-230-1010-1
New Delhi: Publications Division, 2002
ISBN 81-7100-247-1
New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications, 1995
Detailed memories of a pupil
at the Victoria School Kurseong.
see online at:
http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm
Diary covering the time
between June 1943 and March 1947 after that till 1950. Many mention of Calcutta and Bengal
especially during Wavell’s visits to the city. Very little personal items but frank coverage
of political events negotiations during the 2nd world war, the
Bengal Famine, the Calcutta Killings and the lead up to independence.
528 pages, 24 illustrations
Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1973.
Diary of Alan Campbell-Johnson from mid
Dec 1946 to the end of June 1948 when he was Lord Mountbatten’s
Press Attache in India. As he was based in Viceroy’s House New Delhi
there are only a few mentions of Calcutta, but they are quite enlightening with
regards to the city’s situation during the final days before independence.
ca 400 pages ca 20 illustrations.
London: Robert Hale & Company, 1951
Memoir of writer and
journalist Nirad Chaudhuri,
covering politics and personal life in the years 1921-1952. He lived in Calcutta till
1942, the last four years working as secretary to the politician and lawyer Sarat Chandra Bose. Apart from detailing his own life Chaudhuri is very good at describing the general social,
historical and political background to his actions.
xxviii,979pages.
London : Chatto
& Windus, 1987.
Autobiography of writer and journalist Nirad Chaudhuri, who lived in
Calcutta between 1910 and 1942, the last four years working as secretary to the
politician and lawyer Sarat Chandra
Bose. Apart
from detailing his own life Chaudhuri is very good at
describing the general social, historical and political background to his
actions.
ca. 500 pages.
London: Macmillan, 1951.
These are the letters back home of a young
(mid-twenties) Englishman who worked for Jessop’s
& Co.
steel works in Dum Dum (a suburb northeast of
Calcutta).
His letters are very vivid, detailed, full of anecdotes and he never holds back with his (usually
well considered) opinions, on Indian life, manners and politics. Another great read from a turbulent time in
Calcutta’s history. What make the book
even more poignant is that he came to a rather sad end in 1949 when communist
terrorists famously attacked his factory during a labour dispute. He and 3 others of the white managers and
senior technicians were thrown (alive) into the steel furnaces (a fifth man was
hidden and rescued by the workers).
266 pages, some photos. ISBN 0-921227-04-3
Toronto: West Meadow Press, 1996.
Fascinating book giving a
wealth of detail on the life of the famous sitar virtuoso Ravi
Shanka (Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury). It also gives the uninitiated a lot of
background on Hindustani (North-Indian classical) music. There are only a few, albeit very
interesting, things on 1940s Calcutta, as Shankar
(always more man of all the world rather than just a Bengali-only) spent most
of that decade (and most other decades, come to that) somewhere else. Still, a
great read in itself.
336 pages, many
illustrations, glossary. ISBN 1-56649-104-5
New York: Welcome Rain Publishers, 1999.
Biography of the founder of
the Oxford Mission compound on DH Road in Behala. The book gives a lot of
detail on the life of Father Douglass who first came to Calcutta in 1894 to set
up to Oxford Mission Students Hostel (also known as “Douglass Boarding”) off
Cornwallis Street, right up to his death in Calcutta in 1949.
167 pages, 7 illustrations.
London: Oxford University Press, 1952.
Extracts of almost 50 years of letters home by
Father Theodore Mathieson a brother of the Oxford
Mission to Calcutta, who from 1946-1955 ran the Hindu Students’ Hostel in
Calcutta and worked among the lepers of the city. In 1955 he took over Father Douglass’ former
position as head of the Behala compound for orphan
boys. The letters are very well written
and edited, and full of lively detail on the daily life of a celibate Anglican
Brotherhood overseas, and in the observations of an Englishman in India, keenly
interested in the Hindu religion, during Independence, Partition and beyond in
a time of great change in Calcutta history.
The reviewer Alison Olson writes: ‘In his early years in India the young missionary was very
much an observer of an exotic world and amused by the 'disorderly society': 'if
you want something to be done the best way is to put up a notice that it must
not be done'. He was stunned that the people he met 'have not a good word to
say for the British rule'. Gradually India began to lose some of its mystery
and Theodore some of his detachment. As early as April 1947, he wrote, 'I have
been recently trying to imagine myself an Indian and see how I would like to be
ruled by the British . . . It is when one has thought along these lines for
some time that one can begin to understand the Indian's passionate desire for
freedom at all costs'. Five years later he found himself 'happily fitting into
the Indian way of life'.’
For more details see: http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/books/theo.html
436 pages (the first 65 of which are relevant to the
1940s, but all the rest no less interesting),
12 pages colour illustrations. 12
pages B&W illustrations. ISBN No. 0 9532288 0 0.
Romsey: Oxford Mission, 1997.
Available from:
- Gillian
Wilson gillwil@aol.com, Tel: 01962 865824, £5.00 plus £3.00 P & P,
Cheques
should be made payable to ‘Oxford Mission/Theodore’
- Thameslink, 4 York Avenue, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 3PD,
sales@thamesweb.co.uk, £12.95 + p & p
Journalist and barrister, son of Indian official of
the Raj born in Bombay, Frank Moraes
gained degrees in economics, history and law from Bombay and Oxford
universities.
He spent the 1940s as a journalist for the Times of
India and most of World War 2 as war correspondent in China and Burma. In late 1940s he was editor of Times of
Ceylon for 2 years.
The book gives a good eyewitness account of the
times although due to Frank Moraes being based in
Bombay it is naturally very little on matters directly affecting Calcutta.
ISBN 0297765167
London : Weidenfeld
and Nicolson, 1973.
French by birth Taya had to flee to Amercia
during WW2.
Just before the end of the war she married Maurice Zinkin a senior administrator in the Indian Finance
Ministry whom she had met in the UK and stayed in correspondence since then.
Eventually she became a journalist, (India
correspondent for the Manchester Guardian, Le Monde
and the Economist).
Stoke Abbott: Thomas Harmsworth
Publishing 1989
Elizabeth James
The autobiograpy of Esther Mary Lyons whose
father was a Jesuit priest stationed at St Thomas Church Calcutta in the 1930s
and 40s. She was born in Dum Dum
in November 1940. Her father tried to resign from the Jesuits to take up the
responsibilities of a father in Calcutta but was refused. He had a lot of counselling from the British
church members at the time to return to church as a priest and give her up for
adoption or to the orphanage run by the Loretto
Convent but he refused and instead took her and her mother to Delhi to start a
new life of a family member. A few years
later however he left the family and went back to the United States leaving
Mary and her mother to cope on their own in Allahabad.
308 pages. ISBN 81-88629-10-3
Delhi: Originals, 2004
The autobiograpy of Esther Mary Lyons whose
father was a Jesuit priest stationed at St Thomas Church Calcutta in the 1930s
and 40s. She was born in Dum Dum
in November 1940. Her father tried to resign from the Jesuits to take up the
responsibilities of a father in Calcutta but was refused. He had a lot of counselling from the British
church members at the time to return to church as a priest and give her up for
adoption or to the orphanage run by the Loretto
Convent but he refused and instead took her and her mother to Delhi to start a
new life of a family member. A few years
later however he left the family and went back to the United States leaving
Mary and her mother to cope on their own in Allahabad.
Further details at: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~lyonsfab/unwanted.htm
307 pages and 20 illustrations and photographs. ISBN 086786 191 6
The book can be bought from the author through the internet http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~lyonsfab/index.htm
Melbourne, Australia: Spectrum Publishers, 1996
The basic story is
the same as in “Unwanted” above but this book is written more from the angle of
the authors search for her history and her father. It Includes a
chapter on her father and his family in the USA. It also has a chapter on the
author’s discovery of her ancestors in both India and the USA.
Further details at: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~lyonsfab/bittersweettruth.htm
320 pages and about 20 photographs and illustrations
The book can be bought from Low Price Publishers in Delhi: http://www.lppindia.com
New Delhi: Esther Mary Lyons (self published), 2001
x, 126 p. ill. 21 cm. ISBN:
0907799485
London. BACSA. 1992
164 p. : ill., maps, port.
; 25 cm. ISBN 0953172007
London : David Ashley Pub, 1998.
Military diary December 7th. 1941 to October 27th. 1944
combined with reflective passages and letters to his wife. Command of the
Chinese-American armies in Burma from which he was eventually recalled; prickly
and bitter 'tough-guy' account; dislike of Chiang K'ai-shek
and Mountbatten; military difficulties, sickness and
disease. The record of
'an outstanding American soldier, wasted on an all but impossible
job… for which, temperamentally, he was unsuited'.
New York: W. Sloane
Associates, 1948,
London: Macdonald & Co., 1949. The British
edition has a second introduction.
Nursing in war time India; a narrative, based on diaries
with some direct quotation; malaria, dysentery, work, social life.
London: Imperial War Museum, 1986.
London: Headline, paperback, 1988.
Comedy actress and
journalist diary covering January 13th. 1944 to March 20th. 1945 when she did two
tours with ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) to North Africa,
Malta, Italy, Cairo, Baghdad and India. Sights, travel,
audiences.
London: Hodder and
Stoughton, 1989
Short
biographical police file sketches of members of the Calcutta criminal
underworld dating from 1946 to 1972, but mainly of the 1950s and 1960s. Some of them were already prominent in the
1940s though, and many more are detailed to have started their lives of crime
and violence as members of the various “defence associations” during the Great
Calcutta Killings in August 1946.
105 pages ISBN: 81-7102-056-9
Calcutta: Firma KLM Private Limited, 1996.
http://www.cricket.org/link_to_database/PLAYERS/IND/S/SEN_PK_06000800/
Short
biography of Bengali cricketer Probir Kumar Sen known as “Khokan” whose test
career spanned from 1948-1952 and he was regarded as the first outstanding
Indian wicketkeeper and a useful late order batsman.
http://www.cricket.org/link_to_database/PLAYERS/IND/B/BANERJEE_SA_06000845/
Short biography of Bengali
cricketer Sudangsu Abinash Banerjee known as “Mantu”. His only test match was
against the West Indies in Calcutta in 1948/49 which was regarded as an
impressive debut, and it was rather surprising that he never got another chance
at the international level.
A World War II correspondence from the
China-Burma-India Theatre where Richard Beard was stationed as Army
psychologist assigned to the 142nd General Hospital in Calcutta. A pillar to
the men he served, Beard was an astute listener and observer, pleased to be
playing his part yet often irritated about what seemed to him senseless
military decisions and inefficiencies. In daily letters to Reva,
he poured out not only his own longing but also describing life in India and
the unfolding drama of war in painfully exquisite detail tempered with
tenderness and humour. She attempts to keep up his morale with sketches of life
at home as a teacher in Findlay, Ohio coping with shortages and relatives.
The collection of letters have been edited by Elaine
Pinkerton, the daughter of Richard and Reva Beard,
with and introduction by Wendall A. Phillips, Otha Spencer. It also includes several fairly long essays
about the China-Burma- India theatre, which gives the reader a good grounding
on this aspect of World War II.
352 pages. ISBN: 0896724689
Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002
http://www.ttup.ttu.edu/books/calcutta.html
http://www.readsouthwest.com/books/ep_calcutta.html
Fascinating book about Savitri Devi, a western woman who
married a Bengali Nazi sympathizer in 1940s Calcutta. Apart from propaganda work for right wing
Hindu nationalism, she admired Hitler and spied for the Germans and the
Japanese during the war. After the war
she became famous in the world wide Neo-Nazi movement. About three to four chapters are relevant to
the 1940s in Calcutta.
269 pages, some
illustrations. ISBN 0-8147-3111-2
New York: New York University Press, 1998.
Before her marriage to the Jaipur
Royal Family in the early 1940s, Gayatri Devi was a princess of Cooch Behar, and spent a lot of time living at the Maharaja of Cooch Behar’s city palace
“Woodlands” at Alipore in Southern Calcutta.
335 pages, some
illustrations. ISBN 0-397-01103-2
Philadelphia & New York: J.B. Lippincott Company. 1976
The wife of a Scottish manager in the Bengal Jute
industry, Eugenie Fraser spent most of the 1940s in Barrackpore.
316 pages, some
illustrations. ISBN 0-552-99418-9
London: Corgi Books, 1991.
A fascinating story of a young Danish sailor,
stranded through illness in Calcutta. He joins the City Police and works his
way up the ranks. Later he works for Birla on
Security and finally as a Customs Officer.
231 pages, 38 illustrations - ISBN 0-907799-64-7
London: BACSA, 1999.
The lives and memories of
three generations of women from the Calcutta Baghdadi Jewish community.
194 pages ISBN: 1584651695
Calcutta: Seagull, 2001.
Autobiography (translated
and edited) of long time communist chief minister of West-Bengal Jyoti Basu. The era coverd
his beginnings until 1977 when he took office. Consequently there is a quite a bit of
material on the 1940s which he spent as trade unionist and Member of the Bengal
Legistlative Assembly.
196 pages many illustrations ISBN: 817476172
New Delhi: UBSPD, 1997.
http://www.ganashakti.com/jb/preface.htm
More or less the online version of the above, as the
Ganashakti articles became the basis of the book.
Memories of a student, communist activist and trade union man (in the 1940s)
and from childhood up to the 1957, who went on to become chief minister of
West-Bengal.
Choice selections from the
(almost limitless) works of Rabindanath Tagore.
432 pages, Paperback, 1st ISBN:031220079X
London: St. Martin's Press. December 1998
Krishna
Kripalani (1907-1992) began his career as a teacher
at Santiniketan. Prior to that he
had a short spell in jail for participating in the Indian struggle for freedom.
From 1933 till the death of Rabindranath Tagore in 1941, he worked in close association with the
poet and edited the journal, Visva-Bharati Quarterly
founded and first edited by Tagore.
ca
20 pictures 400 pages
New York: Grove, 1962
Interest in the life and work of Nobel prize-winning
writer Rabindranath Tagore
is now enjoying a revival after many years of neglect outside India. He wrote
thousands of letters in both Bengali and English. Most of the significant
Bengali letters have been published in the half-century since his death, but
not translated, while few noteworthy English letters are in print. This book,
which consists of about 350 letters spanning Tagore’s
entire life, a quarter of them in English translation, is the first to make his
letters available to English readers. They have been especially selected to
show as many facets of his experience, interests and ideas as possible.
Students of history, politics and literature will find them an invaluable tool,
not only for an understanding of the complexity of Tagore’s
personality, but also of the times in which he lived.
593 pages, 20 half-tones, ISBN: 0521590183
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. June, 1997
A great biography of Bengal’s foremost figure of
literature who died in 1941.
493 pages many illustrations ISBN: 0745720046
London: Bloomsbury, 1995.
Not specific to
Calcutta, this book gives a lot of detail on the “Legion Freies
Indien” an Indian volunteer force of the German Wehrmacht, inspired by Netaji Subhas Bose during his time in
exile in Berlin during in the 2nd World War. The author was part of this unit himself and
the book is especially good on the cultural adjustments which needed to be made
by the both German and Indian sides to be able to work together at all. Apart from also detailing military campaigns,
it also gives details of the life of ordinary Indian soldiers in the German
army, and thus gives an all round picture of this unexpected Indian involvement
on the German side.
206 pages many illustrations.
Delhi: Rupa, 2001
London: 1970.
London: 1982
1997
634 pages,
2001
Asia Publishing House: London; Calcutta
printed, [1962.]
805 pages,
New Delhi: Penguin Books India Limited 1990.
Calcutta: NRB, 1995. (2nd Print)
This books gives a good
overview over the political thinking of Subhas Chandra Bose, Calcutta’s most
prominent 1940s politician. Most of the writings are from the 1930 but there
are 9 from the 1940s, although most of them from the time after Bose fled into exile in Germany and later Japanese SE
Asia.
338 pages, some
illustrations. ISBN 019564854-4
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998
Calcutta: NRB, 1995 (2nd Edition)
805 pages,
New Delhi: Penguin Books India Limited 1990.
Calcutta: NRB, 1993
Calcutta: NRB, 1979.
Calcutta: NRB, 1989.
Film maker Satyajit Ray’s writings on films and film-making. Some of them are relevant to him starting out
with the Calcutta Film Society in the late 1940s.
219pages ISBN 0-86125-176-8
Hyderabad: Orient Longman,
1976.
London:
Orion 1998
[ix,128]p ill 18cm pbk ISBN: 028104189x
London:
SPCK, 1986
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A very detailed dictionary of terms
peculiar to the English language as used in India during the British Raj.
Many of the terms are more or less modified version of Persian, Bengali,
Hindustani, or Malay words.
The
dictionary was developed in the 19th century and by the 1940s quite
a few terms had died out or changed their meaning (e.g. “Anglo-Indian”). Nevertheless, a lot where still in use until independence and some
time after and many have also made their way into the modern British English
and even more into Indian English.
A vital tool for all researchers into British Indian
life and history.
New
ed. edited by William Crooke, B.A.
London:
J. Murray, 1903.
ONLINE Hobson Jobson at DSAL (Digital South Asia Library of the University of Chicago)
This
version can be searched with a search engine.
http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/hobsonjobson/
The Hobson-Jobson Dictionary at Bibliomania
This
sorts all terms by alphabet as they are presented in the actual book.
http://www.bibliomania.com/2/3/260/frameset.html
The directory contains annual lists of civilian European
and prominent Indian residents, a list of Calcutta streets, the names of the
residents of each house and a map.
Depending on the year there might also be and almanac, holidays, postal
information, telegraph rates, post offices, telegraph stations, list of
appointments, officials and offices in the Government of India, census, railway
directory and maps of India's railways, list of the civil divisions of India,
maps of environs of Calcutta, newspaper and periodicals directory. There is also a directory of churches and
missions, charitable societies and hospitals, education directory,
institutions, etc., literary and scientific societies, clubs, freemasonry and a
commercial directory of British and foreign merchants and manufacturers and
commercial industries.
The relevant volumes for the period are 1940, 1941,
1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947/48, 1949/50.
Calcutta: Thacker & Co., 1885(-1960).
Returns
transmitted by chaplains and ministers to the Government of India, relating
mainly to European and Eurasian Christians.
April 1891 - October 1946 (Only officers are listed)
Calcutta: 1941.
The relevant volumes for the period are 1940, 1941,
1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947/48, 1949/50.
Calcutta: Thacker, Spink
& Co., 1906 etc.
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A standard guidebook for Calcutta in the year 1940, with
a wealth of detail from everything to the history of all main city sights and
institutions down to such minute daily facts as bus routes and the price of a
postage stamp.
300 pages, 3 maps, 66
illustrations.
Calcutta: The Central Press, 1940.
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This is a real classic, which documents the history
and traditions of Dow Hill School. Denise (also known as Winsome Fink) bases
her “story” on facts from various school records, and from her own memory,
drawing from various anecdotes, and incorporating the reminiscences of others.
Sadly Denise passed away on July 24th. 2000, and will be missed by many.
However, her book remains as her legacy to us.
This is highly recommended, especially for Dow Hillian’s. I believe copies may still be available by
making enquiries through Grace Pereira who runs the worldwide VADHA alumni
(please refer to the newsletter section for Grace’s address).
ISBN: 1869809009
Paperback, printed and published in the UK
This is the story of the British school’s that grew
up in India during the latter part of the 19th. Century,
first in the plains and later in the hills, to provide an English public-school
style education for children from very mixed backgrounds of race, religion and
economic circumstance, from all corners of the sub-continent.
The account is enlivened with many reminiscences of
erstwhile pupils and teachers, collected diligently over a period of eight
years by the author who herself was at a co-educational school in Darjeeling
(Mount
Hermon) while her twin brother was
at a neighbouring boys school (St. Pauls).
These educational establishments with their strong
English public-school ethos were a notable feature of “Anglo-India” life
pre-independence and surprisingly continue largely unchanged to this day; a
significant legacy.
ISBN: 0907799353
Available from:
Hazel Innes Craig (Haztwin@aol.com )
(Mrs H M Craig, 53 Hill Rise, Rickmansworth,
HERTS WD3 7NY, U.K. )
Costs £10.00 + p&p
The hill station of Darjeeling, now in West Bengal,
was a British creation, to provide a summer retreat from the heat of Calcutta.
Although its name is now synonymous with tea, this book is not just about
planters, but a sensitive history with a personal flavour.
The author traces its story from 1814 to the coming
of Tibetan refugees in 1957. Darjeeling remained Victorian in manners and
outlook until well after the Second World War. An evocative word-picture
emerges with delightful asides, stories and detail.
Paperback, ISBN: 0907799493
London: British Association for Cemeteries in South
Asia (BACSA)
The British communist Rajani
Palme Dutt’s (1896-1974
Bengali Father, Swedish mother), was a decisive influence on the early
development of Indian communists (including Bengal’s Jyoti
Basu), many of whom first cut their teeth in 1940s
Calcutta.
'India Today' (1940) which was banned in India,
although it has few item specifically mentioning Calcutta, is nonetheless a
great insight into how the Indian (Bengali) communists in the city perceived
their situation at the time, and what motivated them in their struggle.
London: Victor Gollancz,
1940
History of the lives and
conditions of jute industry workers.
ISBN:
0691055483
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton
University Press, c1989.
179p ill maps,ports
21cm pbk
Charlbury : J. Lethbridge,
c1994.
Foreword by the Earl of Inchcape.
xv, 434 p., [16] p. of plates
; ill., ports. ; 25 cm. / ISBN: 0333557379
Basingstoke : Macmillan, 1992.
xii, 276 p. illus., maps (part
col.) 23 cm.
Calcutta, Commissioners for the Port of Calcutta; [distributors:
Oxford Book & Stationery Co.] 1968.
The social and economic
conditions of women jute workers in the 1st half of the 20th
century in Calcutta and Bengal.
xviii, 265 p. : ill.,map ; 24 cm. / ISBN: 0521453631
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press,
1999.
With plates, including
portraits.
Calcutta, [1948]
London, 1946.
With plates.
Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1939.
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229
pages. ISBN: 0749386746
The
story of a German businessman in Calcutta.
Interned in the 1940, moving to Bombay in the 1950.
London: Vintage, 1998
Denis Ronald Sherman was born in Calcutta in 1934.
He went to Victoria School, and spent most of his childhood in Kurseong, which is used for the setting of this book. When
he was twelve, he was sent to England to finish his education at Brighton
Grammar School. D.R.
Sherman now lives on Praslin
Island in the Seychelles, and makes a living as an author.
A delightful book, which is
essentially about the relationship of the “Boy” with the Mali (gardener).
Paperback (Penguin), Published in the UK
ISBN: 0140028137
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http://sankalpa.tripod.com/roots/calcutta_pics_102.html
9 pictures 17& 18th century mainly
paintings by Thomas Daniel but also some others. Source: 'Calcutta: City of
Palaces' by J P Losty (British Libraries, Arnold
Publishers); compiled by S. Mukherjee.
http://sankalpa.tripod.com/roots/calcutta_pics_104.html#pic10401
12 pictures from 19th century mainly by
James Baille Fraser, Sir Charles D'Oyly. There are also 3 early
photo experiements by Frederick Fiebig
taken from the Ochetrloony monument. Source: 'Calcutta:
City of Palaces' by J P Losty (British Libraries,
Arnold Publishers); compiled by S. Mukherjee.
Noted
for 'Portraits of Calcutta' , Mr. Biswas
has a distinctive style of sketching and painting especially cityscapes. Mr. Biswas is working for the Anandabazar
Group of Publications.
A great book featuring postcards from Calcutta
mainly from the 1910-1930 but quite a few form other decades as well. Very few pictures are
actually from the 1940s, but the majority of pictures from the 1920 would give
you a good indication of what Calcutta looked like in the 1940s. There is also
an interesting reference section.
ca 200 pages, many illustration (naturally)
Calcutta: Mehmood Imran,
19??(ca 1999).
http://www.harappa.com/post4/calcutta0.html
Raphael Tuck & Sons of London were the world's premiere early postcard publisher.
Tucks published its first Christmas cards in 1871 and first postcards, like
many other firms, in 1898. The firm was a regular supplier of Christmas cards
to Queen Victoria, and could boast the title "Art Publishers to Their
Majesties the King & Queen."
Tucks India cards start appearing around 1905. The many geographic and
thematic series cover most major cities and regions. The numbering was very
confusing, but they came with detailed descriptive captions unlike any other
publishers.
The web site produces 6 coloured postcards from 1905.
Click on the images to get the bigger version and the very detailed
descriptions.
http://www.harappa.com/post3/cal0.html
12 postcards (some coloured) on 2 pages. All from the
first half of the 20th century.
Again click on the images to get the bigger version. Beware some of the comments. A postcard of
the current Howrah Bridge is dated ca. 1920!
Ca. 80 black an white photos taken in the early 1940s all over
India, both ancient and modern. About 20
% of the photos are from Calcutta and or Bengal. Quite a few pictures are related to war work,
ammunitions factories, nurses, servicemen etc.. after all the book is dedicated to Viceroy Field-Marshal
Lord Wavell.
London: Winter 1945/46
http://40thbombgroup.org/indiapics2.html
Robert Sanders
was stationed in Chakulia India with the
40th Bombergroup in 1945 and took the
opportunity of a trip to Calcutta to take some pictures.
Relevant pictures
are: R & R Hotel; Intersection in
Calcutta, a Pontiac waiting; Snake Charmer; Howell and Burger, Calcutta
rickshaw; More of the same; Old Calcutta; Cremating in
Calcutta, at burning ghats; Garbage Disposal, Dead
animals deposited behind wall for the vultures.
http://40thbombgroup.org/balkin.html
Seymour Balkin was another airman stationed in India with the 40th
Bombergroup in Chakulia
in 1944. Like many he tooonat Rest and recreation
trip to Calcutta and took some snaps of him and his friends.
Relevant pictures
are: Calcutta railroad station; Another
view; Calcutta street scene; Shoeshine (no shoes); Capt. James Slattery and
Maj. Daniel Rogers at "black hole" of Calcutta; Maj. Danny Rogers Howrah Bridge in background; Seymour Balkin
in front of Jan Temple, Calcutta; Lt. Daniel Bursch;
Capt. James Slattery (2nd from left) with his Co-Pilot, Navigator and
Bombardier; Rogers, Balkin, Cook, and Bursch; Bursch (Howrah Bridge); Seymour Balkin (Howrah Bridge); Calcutta Street Scene; Traffic Cop; Another
Street Scene; A Shop in Calcutta; Water Fountain; Taking a Shave; Calcutta
Street; Lt. Daniel Bursch; Jan Temple; Cook, Bursch and little girl posing; Maj.Rogers,
Capt. Slattery, Lt. Cook (others unidentified)); At the Railroad Station; F/O
Walter Ramsey and Cook (Railway in Calcutta); Balkin
at Grand Hotel.
http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley/
Great pictures by US Airforce Photographer Glenn Hensley. The pictures are especially valuable as they
do not just follow the tourist sights but record many daily scenes and
especially the people of Calcutta. There
are a many scenes of life on the river and canals.
The pictures are stored in a database together with
descriptions. Some photos were taken in
Madras and Burma but most (about 220) of them are from Calcutta and it’s immediate suburbs like Alipore.
Mr Hensley has already given us a great amount of
detailed written memories on his time in Calcutta as well ,
which we will soon be featuring on our site.
http://www.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/
The photos of Clyde Waddell, US military man who
spent the mid 1940s in Calcutta being amongst other things the personal press
photographer of Lord Louis Mountbatten, and as news
photographer on Phoenix magazine. He
took the pictures on leave in Calcutta after the liberation of Singapore in
Sept. 1945. As demand fot ehm grew he was persuaded to
collate them into albums which where sold as souvenirs to mainly US servicemen.
The relevant photos and their captions are:
Chowringhee
Road; View of the River Hugli from the Howrah Bridge, looking north; Aerial view of Calcutta from
the Howrah Bridge, looking south.; Hindusthan Building; Corner of Harrison Street and Strand
Road; View looking south along Chowringhee Road, with
the Dhurrumtollah Mosque in the foregound;
Karnani Estates, U.S. Army officers apartment hotel.;
The American Red Cross Burra Club; Old Court House
Street; Old Court House Street; Sikh taxi driver and American G.I.s; Tram; Street performer; Snake charmer; Snake
charmer; Street scene with American G.I.s; Professor Sher Mohamed, Theatrical performer; Street scene; Shitalanatha Jain Temple; Kalighat Temple; Hindu woman praying at linga
shrine; Brahmins worshipping in the Kalighat Temple;
Bathing ghat near the Kalighat
Temple; Nimtollah Burning Ghat;
Nakodha Mosque; Indian women in the grounds of the Shitalanatha Jain Temple;
Portraits of two Indian actresses, Binota Bose and Mrs Rekha Mullick; Woman and child in the street; Marble Palace; Queueing to buy kerosene; Woman dying in the street; March
during the Calcutta Tramway Workers' Union strike; Howrah
Bridge; Street scene outside the Calcutta Stock Exchange; View on the Hugli; Loading ships at the Port of Calcutta; Howrah Railway Station, Calcutta (Haora);
Interior of Howrah Railway Station, Calcutta (Haora); Indians waiting for a train at Howrah
Railway Station, Calcutta (Haora); Roadside shop,
probably near Howrah Railway Station, Calcutta (Haora); The New Market (Sir Stuart Hogg
Market); American G.I.s buying souvenirs; American G.I.s buying souvenirs, New Market; Street scene with
shoeshine boys outside the New American Kitchen; Street traders and American G.I.s, Chowringhee Road; Street
traders and American G.I.s, Chowringhee
Road; American G.I.s buying souvenirs, Chowringhee Road; American G.I.s
at a bookstall; Street scene at night, with hack gharries; Street scene with
shoemakers; Street people asleep; Chinese opium den; American G.I. and
prostitutes; Eating breakfast on the pavement, Park Street; Fruit vendor;
Drying cakes of cow dung for fuel; Paan seller;
Street barbers; Cocoanut market, Cornwallis Street; Washermen
at work.
http://www.calcuttaweb.com/picture/miltonlinks/index.shtml
14 very interesting pictures
of mid 1940s Calcutta taken by US serviceman Milton Links. My favourite is the Victoria Memorial with
added swimming pool.
Milton Links visited Calcutta and parts of India and
Burma during 1944-45. He was with USA military force but with a passion for
photography and art. Some of his work has been published by renowned
publications.
The relevant photos and their captions are:
East side of Dalhouse Square (now B.B.D. Bag). Tram cars have different
models now and streets are more congested for sure. St John's Church [sic.] is visible on the back. ; Esplanade (Dharmatala) junction. Tipu Sultan
Mosque and Victoria House( currently CESC office). The
buses were of old model but congested ( may not be
like now).; Double Decker Bus. There are not many running on the streets these
days and the look has changed so much. Initially, they were used have open roof
on the upper floor. , Grand Hotel in the mid-forties.
First five star hotel in the city.; High Court lobby
in mid forties.; Howrah Bridge in mid-forties. Considered as one of the architectural achievement during the
forties. The place was so neat and so different from now.;
Top view of Dharmatala. Trams used to run across
Central Avenue.; Firpo's Cafe at Park Street. Famous
for it's bakery and confectionary, even today. [sic.];
Street Scene; This building is still there today in the Chowranghee
[sic.] area, but not vibrant.; Street scene; Victoria
Memorial - swimming pool.; Street scene : Bullock/Buffalo carts; Another street
scene.
Calcutta Web produces these
picture courtesy of Richard Links
http://www.calcuttaweb.com/picture/calold1.shtml
Three pages of old pictures
from Calcutta, some from the 1940s but most from 1905 and even earlier. Nevertheless a very usefull resource.
http://www.mklabs.de/mkprivat/calcutta.htm
A site highlighting ca. 70 very interesting pictures
which “Our family […] carried […] through the last century, from generation to
generation”. The problem is that only
one picture is shown on the site at any one time (due to lack of server space).
You need to click on the picture to see the larger version.
http://www.harappa.com/photo2/cfr.html
14 photos. All from
ca. 1915.
Click on the images to get the bigger version.
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Directed by Jean Renoir, sceenplay
by Rumer Godden
An English girl comes of age in postwar
Bengal.
99 min. Technicolour. 1951
Directed by Satyajit Ray
A toching
portrait of childhood and Bengali village life.
115 min. B&W, Bengali. 1955
Directed by Satyajit Ray
Changing lifestyles in the
Calcutta of the early 1950s.
131 min. B&W, Bengali. 1963
Directed by Satyajit Ray
The impact of the Bengal
famine on a village community.
101 min. colour, Bengali. 1973
Kamal
Haasan, Rani Mukharjee, Shah Rukh Khan, Naseeruddin Shah.
A
strong portrayal of the violence and emotions of revenge and communal extremism
which gripped India in the run up to partition. Especially the Calcutta riots are shown and
the rise Hindu extremism and their hate for Gandhi.
runtime:
122 mins, cast: Dhritiman Chatterjee, Geoffrey Kendal, Jennifer Kendal, Debashree Roy.
Most of the film
set in the late 1970s but there are some flashback to
the war years which changed the main characters Anglo-Indian life.
India: 1981
Not set in Bengal
but probably the best western film to portray the chaos of post-war and
pre-independence India and especially the precarious situation of the
Anglo-Indian community.
runtime 1 hour, 50 minutes, cast: Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, Bill Travers. The Indian
roles were played by Europeans in make-up !
MGM, 1956
Documentary in which the director accompanies his
parents on a visit back to their former homes in the Barisal
district of today’s Bangladesh. They recall memories of their lives in former
East Bengal and the 1950 riots which forced them to leave. The film is further
enriched by documentary footage of the events accompanying partition in Bengal.
120 min, Bengali with English subtitles
India, Calcutta, 2002
The
film archive of the British Pathé Cinema newsreel
company has recently gone online at http://www.britishpathe.com/. I have found quite a few films (38 so far) which
deal with Calcutta and Bengal. A lot of
them are either directly from the 1940 or show scenes which would not be too
different from what they would have been in the 1940s.
For technical reasons (lack of space) and reasons of
copyright we cannot display the films themselves on this site. With the details given (The FilmID) however it should be easy for all those interested
to access (via Advancd search) or even download the
films they are interested in. You can
download the films in basic quality for free, but for payment you do get
versions of much better quality.
Where the film ID and other details are not given,
the film might not be available yet.
Contact:
British Pathe Limited http://www.britishpathe.com/
E-mail:
info@britishpathe.com
Telephone:
+44-(0)20-7.424.36.36
Fax: +44-(0)20-7.485.36.06
An item showing
Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught, during the
opening of the Legislative Council in India
(FilmID: 230.17 / Size: 1,371 KB / Length: 0:01:22:00)
Prince of
Wale concludes his tour of India and returns to Plymouth (Devon) and onto
London.
(FilmID: 262.23 / Size: 5,420 KB / Length: 0:05:26:00)
In a bid to
fly round the globe, Squadron Leader Maclaren reaches
India.
(FilmID: 336.03 / Size: 2,431 KB / Length: 0:02:26:00)
James Carew, winner of the Calcutta sweepstake, enjoys time at
home in Liverpool.
(FilmID: 400.04 / Size: 615 KB / Length: 0:00:37:00)
The Duke of Connaught on tour of India.
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
Lord Willingdon reviews British and Indian troops and sees a
polo championship.
(FilmID: 777.26 / Size: 1,445 KB / Length: 0:01:27:00)
Viceroy of
India, Lord Willingdon attends Calcutta Races.
(FilmID: 817.02 / Size: 1,719 KB / Length: 0:01:42:00)
Indian men
do sacred dances in the holy temple grounds of Calcutta, India.
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
Huge crowds gather for Hindu
Car Festival at Puri in Bengal, India.
(FilmID: 1140.07 / Size: 1,162 KB
/ Length: 0:01:09:00)
A look back as Prince Edward
tours Australia, India and Africa during the 1920s.
(FilmID: 1132.01 / Size: 2,614 KB / Length: 0:02:37:00)
The Viceroy
of India attends a military parade in Calcutta.
(FilmID: 957.26 / Size: 795 KB / Length: 0:00:47:00)
Various scenes in India - including children who are reputedly
married at an early age.
(FilmID: 1004.27 / Size: 1,202 KB / Length: 0:01:31:00)
Italian crew
flies from Calcutta to Rangoon on their way to Australia.
(FilmID: 2583.27 / Size: 2,331 KB / Length: 0:02:20:00)
Firemen in
Calcutta show off with hoses, ladders and ropes in demonstration at fire tower.
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
Crowds and pageantry at the Viceroy's Cup Race in Calcutta, India.
(FilmID: 955.19 / Size: 829 KB / Length: 0:00:50:00)
A look at different places in India
including Karachi and Calcutta.
(FilmID: 1542.06 / Size: 1,514 KB /
Length:
0:01:31:00)
Aid travels to
China via Tibet on mules.
(FilmID: 1079.13 / Size: 2,223 KB
/ Length: 0:02:13:00)
Material
showing injured people on ship 'Karapara', and being
lifted into ambulances on quay.
(FilmID: 1992.03 / Size: 4,140 KB / Length: 0:04:09:00)
Disturbing images of the famine in Bengal, India.
(FilmID: 2177.10 / Size: 6,182 KB
/ Length: 0:06:12:00)
Carrier pigeons
relay important messages from remote villages in Bengal.
(FilmID: 1580.13 / Size: 1,418 KB / Length: 0:01:29:00)
Publisher of SEAC
newspaper explains how papers are delivered to soldiers on Burmese front.
(FilmID: 1143.19/ Size: 3,224 KB / Length: 0:03:14:00)
Various shots of a peaceful strike with workers being checked or moved
on by police and a military presence on the streets
(FilmID: 2423.13 / Size: 4,728 KB /
Length: 0:04:44:00)
Nehru speaking from ornate, canopied dais - sea of umbrellas,
disturbance by demonstrators.
(FilmID: / Size:
KB / Length:)
Various
news and (towards the end) Religious Festival in Calcutta.
(FilmID: 907.12 / Size: 5,724 KB / Length: 0:05:44:00)
Eastern Pakistan
celebrates independence.
(FilmID: 2391.06 / Size: 3,227 KB
/ Length: 0:03:16:00)
Eastern Pakistan
celebrates independence.
(FilmID: 2391.10 / Size: 3,240 KB
/ Length: 0:03:15:00)
Parade
of Indian Troops in Front of Pandit Nehru.
(FilmID: 2423.12 / Size: 6,865 KB / Length: 0:06:53:00)
Supplies of grain are sent to India to help famine struck areas.
(FilmID: 1475.06 / Size: 931 KB / Length: 0:00:56:00)
Prince
Philip ends India tour by visiting Tata steel works
and Telco locomotive works.
(FilmID: 1567.32 / Size: 1,465 KB
/ Length: 0:01:27:00)
Footage of
Queen Elizabeth II's continuing tour of India.
(FilmID: 1712.08 / Size: 3,956 KB
/ Length: 0:03:58:00)
Queen and
Prince Philip visit India.
(FilmID: 1787.09 / Size: 4,033 KB
/ Length: 0:04:03:00)
Material
relating to newsreel story "Queen Goes Eastwards" - 61/16.
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
Queen & Duke arrive and at Royal Calcutta Turf Club,
crane pulling up red hot ingots.
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
Royal tour of India - 1961.
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
Documentary about the manufacture and export of British motor cars.
c. 1962
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
Tragic
pictures emphasising Indian poverty endured by all ages
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
Street scenes in Calcutta showing general begging by young and old.
(FilmID: /
Size: KB / Length: )
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The complete Hindusthan
recordings from 1932-1939, consisting of songs, poems, prose, chrildren’s poems and English translations.
22 recordings
Calcutta: Hindusthan
Musical Products Ltd., 1997.
Recording location/date: Calcutta, India / 1942/43
songs include
Bridgette Moore: “Ice Cold Katie”
Performers: TEDDY WEATHERFORD & HIS BAND incl.
Teddy WEATHERFORD (piano) George BANKS (trumpet), Reuben SOLOMON
, Paul GONSALVES (reed) & Roy BUTLER (reed) with Bridgette
MOORE (vocal) 1944.05
Hutson Sisters: “So Long, Sarah
Jane”
Performer notes: TEDDY WEATHERFORD & HIS BAND
with Teddy WEATHERFORD (piano), THE HUTSON SISTERS (vocal) 1944.01
Roy Butler: “Lady Who Didn't Believe In L”
Performers: TEDDY WEATHERFORD & HIS BAND incl.
Teddy WEATHERFORD (vocal, piano) George BANKS (trumpet), Reuben SOLOMON , Paul GONSALVES (reed) & Roy BUTLER (reed)
1943.05
Nestor West: “Jealous”
Performers: ALL STAR SWING BAND incl. George BANKS
(trumpet), Reuben SOLOMON (clarinet), Teddy WEATHERFORD (piano), Cedric WEST
(guitar) with Nestor WEST (vocal) 1942.09
Teddy Weatherford: “Waikiki”
Performers: Teddy WEATHERFORD (piano) 1942
Nestor West: “Last Call For
Love”
Performers: REUBEN SOLOMON & HIS JIVE BOYS with
Reuben SOLOMON (clarinet) Nestor WEST (vocal) 1942.09
Teddy Weatherford: “Kiss The
Boys Goodbye”
Performers: Teddy WEATHERFORD (piano) 1942
Jimmy Smith: “Memphis Blues”
Performers: Teddy WEATHERFORD (piano) with prob.
Tony GONSALVES (bass) and Jimmy SMITH (drums) 1942.08
Teddy Weatherford: “Last Time I Saw Paris”
Performers: Teddy WEATHERFORD (piano) 1942
Jimmy Smith: “Blues In The
Night”
Performers: Teddy WEATHERFORD (vocal, piano) with
prob. Tony GONSALVES (bass) & Jimmy SMITH (drums) 1942.08
Nester West: “One Dozen Roses”
Performers: ALL STAR SWING BAND incl. George BANKS
(trumpet), Reuben SOLOMON (clarinet), Teddy WEATHERFORD (piano), Cedric WEST
(guitar) with Nester WEST (vocal) 1942.09
Jimmy Smith: “Basin Street Blues” (1LP0088255)
Performers: Teddy WEATHERFORD (vocal, piano) with
prob. Tony GONSALVES (bass) & Jimmy SMITH (drums) 1942.08
Jimmy Smith: “St. Louis Blues”
Performers: Teddy WEATHERFORD (vocal, piano) with
prob. Tony GONALVES (bass) & Jimmy SMITH (drums) 1942.08
Nester West: “My Gal Sal”
Performers: REUBEN SOLOMON & HIS JIVE BOYS with
Reuben SOLOMON (clarinet), Nester WEST (vocal) 1942.09
Recording location/date: Calcutta India / 1945.02
The complete Hindusthan
recordings from 1932-1939, consisting of songs, poems, prose, chrildren’s poems and English translations.
22 recordings
Calcutta: Hindusthan
Musical Products Ltd., 1997.
The complete Hindusthan
recordings from 1932-1939, consisting of songs, poems, prose, children’s poems
and English translations.
22 recordings
Calcutta: Hindusthan
Musical Products Ltd., 1997.
Selected speeches and radio
broadcasts from 1938 Flag hoisting ceremony at Haripura
Congress to the Address to the INA. The pieces are in a variety of languages from
Bengali and Hindi, to English and even German.
All are shortly introduced by the editor Sisir
K. Bose.
12 recordings
Calcutta: Saregama India
Ltd., 1985.
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