Summary of the Book "From the Ruins of Empire" (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name: Tutor’s Name: Course: Date Due: Summary The author of the book, From the Ruins of Empire, Pankaj Mishra, strives to provide conclusive understanding of the colonial period of the South East Asia by the Europeans. The book portrays the emergence of intellectuals in the Indian and Chinese parts of Asia and subsequently refutes the idea that had been brought by the European in the region of viewing its population as civilized. The thesis of thesis of this book is that the Europeans did not bring human civilization since people who initially in the region as well organized systems of governance that were even effective. The author mentions vast political entities that existed across Asia, stretching from East China to India and Afghanistan. However, the Europeans are also portrayed as individuals who brought modernity, although the author does not agree that civilization had resulted from the native people of the land many centuries before the arrival of the white people. The author argues that western colonization of the South East Asia was the most critical factor in the ushering in modernity in the larger continent of Asia (Mishra 166). The author explores different traits in lives of Indians as well as the Chinese in their contribution towards modernity, which had been enhanced by the Europeans. He further expresses the element of colonization as an element that was pain, but as essential in...