British Indian author Sathnam Sanghera retraces complex ‘Journeys of Empire’

London, Sep 11 (PTI) British Indian author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera has retraced 10 definitive voyages that transformed the world forever in his latest children’s book ‘Journeys of Empire’, published on Thursday.

From Mahatma Gandhi’s 1930 Dandi March, also referred to as Salt Satyagraha, to the tragic true story of Pocahontas, the book sweeps across continents to capture a snapshot of some of the most epic and monumental journeys that spanned the British Empire.

With a tagline of ‘British voyages that changed the world forever – and the rebels who resisted’, the new illustrated book hopes to entertain and educate, plugging some of the gaps in the way the subject is covered in school lessons. “The story of the British Empire is very complicated, covering a quarter of the world, a fifth of the world's population, 400 years of history,” said Sanghera.

“How do you tell a story so complicated? I thought, telling the stories of individuals who went on very interesting journeys is a good way of doing it, because long journeys are by definition complicated and complex,” he said.

The Wolverhampton-born and London-based author’s bestselling ‘Empireland’ and ‘Empireworld’ also revolved around the subject of British imperialism and ‘Journeys of Empire’ is his second children’s book on the topic, after a similarly illustrated work ‘Stolen History: The Truth about the British Empire and how it Shaped Us’.

“Kids’ books are actually quite hard to write. But I don't approach them in any different way than I do my other writing, because I'm drawn towards interesting stories and humour. I guess the thing that's different is that you need to be careful with your language,” he shared.

“But I think fundamentally, you shouldn't approach kids’ books as any different from other books because the risk is that you will patronise them,” said the author, who often delivers talks in schools in the UK.

“When I go to talk to schools about these books, it's really exciting that kids can relate to them and they engage. But equally, I sometimes feel really jealous because for them, it's another lesson and another author coming in.

“But for me, if I'd known this stuff as a kid, it would have changed my entire sense of being a British Indian,” said Sanghera, reflecting on how the Empire is barely taught in schools in England.

The 48-year-old noted that the subject is “essential” for a context to Britain's immigration debate and what makes swathes of people journey across different parts of the world.

“You don't build the biggest empire in human history without becoming migrants yourself. But also, there's absolutely no sense in this ongoing conversation about migration in this country that there's a reason for people coming here,” said Sanghera, whose parents migrated from Punjab in the 1960s.

“There's a reason my parents came (to the UK). There's a reason why millions of people from Nigeria and South Africa came here. It's because they were part of the British Empire; as the line goes: 'we are here because you were there'. But this is a central fact that is very rarely mentioned in the so-called debate about migration in Britain. The historical context is very rarely explained,” he said.

After his latest book made up of intriguing journeys packed with stories about very complicated individuals, Sanghera is ready to step away from the subject of Empire to focus on a book on the popular singer-songwriter George Michael – timed for the 10th anniversary of his death next year. PTI AK NPK NPK