Prasenjit K. Basu’s recent book Asia Reborn: A Continent Rises from the Ravages of Colonialism and War to a New Dynamism has been causing ripples in academic circles for its razor-sharp analysis. The book is being heralded as the first Asian economic and political history narrated by an Asian and has bagged The First Book of the year (non-fiction segment) recognition from prestigious Tata Lit Fest. BE’s Kingshuk Banerjee spoke to Prasenjit K. Basu regarding his recent literary work.
Q. How did the idea of writing this book come about?
A. I have been fascinated by history since I was a boy. As a graduate scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, I began to grapple with why East Asia had done so much better economically as compared to the Indian subcontinent. When I moved to Singapore, I began to examine why there was such a vast difference between the economic success of Japan’s former colonies (Taiwan, Korea, and north-eastern China) and the rampant poverty in the Indian subcontinent. That was how the idea of this book occurred to me.
Q. We know you did extensive research for collecting the information. Could you please tell us regarding the work?
A. Over the past two decades, I read voraciously, travelled across the region and built up a large collection of books during my travels (including for both business and leisure/ tourism). I first started writing in 2005, and completed writing a long introduction — but I suffered a setback when my laptop was burgled in KL the next year. I began writing again in 2013 and the lost introduction metamorphosed into a shorter prologue and a long first chapter. I sent the prologue to David Davidar in September 2013 and he offered me a contract six hours later — and the book took over my life for the next three years. I wrote at my desk, during the evenings after work, and especially on business trips. The solitude of a hotel room or of a flight seat proved particularly conducive to writing.
Q. How was the process of writing of this book?
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