These twelve essays explore the nature of south Asian agrarian society and examine the extent to which it changed during the period of British rule. The central focus of the book is directed to peasant agitation and violence and four of the studies look at the agrarian explosion that formed the background to the 1857 Mutiny. The essays give a coherent historical treatment of the Indian peasant world, and the paperback edition of this successful book will be of interest to the student of peasant studies and to the sociologist as well as to development economists and agronomists generally.

‘It was high time for us to have a collection of these dozen studies by Eric Stokes … They combine great learning in a field intensively explored of late, with rigorous critical standards, subtle analysis and ingenious hypothesis.’

Source: The Times Literary Supplement

‘This scholarly collation of Professor Stokes’s essays on peasant India under the British Raj will surely become obligatory reading for students in South East Asia and beyond who are concerned with the historical background to modern rural India. Social scientists, agronomists as well as historians will find in these well written pages scope for stimulating thought and discussion.’

Source: Journal of Administration Overseas