Glorious Failure

This is a powerful new account of a chapter inhistory that is crucial to understand, yet oftenoverlooked. For 150 years, from the reign of LouisXIV to the downfall of Napoleon, France was anaggressive imperial power in South Asia, drivenby the pursuit of greatness and riches. Throughtheir East India company and state, the Frenchestablished a far-reaching empire in India, onlyto see their dominant position undermined byconflict with Indian rulers, competition fromother European nations, and a series of fatalstrategic errors.Exploding the myth of a benign French presenceon the subcontinent, Robert Ivermees extensiveresearch reveals how Frances Indian empire reliedon war-making, conquest, opportunistic alliances,regime change and slavery to pursue its ambitions.He considers influential French figures reactionsto the collapse of the imperial project, not leasttheir deployment of new ideas, like freedom andthe rights of man, to justify fresh ventures ofdominationeven as colonial authorities failed toacknowledge the equality of French Indias diverseindigenous peoples, both before and after theFrench Revolution.From great power rivalry to informal empire andentrenched inequalities,Glorious Failuretacklestopics that remain vital and urgent in todays world.