A Corner of a Foreign Field

Ramachandra Guha is one of the world's foremost historians and writers on cricket. Here he is offering three books to Picador. The first will be an Indian history of a British sport - cricket which will be written in his usual animated and highly informed way. The second book is a fascinating anthology of what people have said about Gandhi - from politicians, writers, artists. It will be very international and hugely enlightening. The third book is a definitive biography of Gandhi - Gandhi is regarded as one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century and Guha is the perfect biographer. Ramachandra Guha's book is an extraordinary work of non-fiction. Charting the social history of cricket in India he not only sheds light on the way a society works during a time of massive social and political transformation (the small but important social arguments that take place - for example, the staking out of territory in terms of public parks; the changes in position between the ruler and the ruled and within the limits of caste and class) but he also brilliantly traces the links between sport and politics.
A Corner of a Foreign Field makes references to the 1936 Olympics and the cricket boycott of South Africa and it is in these references that the key to this extraordinary book lies. In prose that is entertaining and incisive, Guha subtly demonstrates that a national sport can not fail to have social and political ramifications and that these ramifications both reflect and often provoke major political change. This book is important not only as an historical record but also as an analysis of the way in which sport has affected modern history. It is, most importantly, very entertaining and is that rarest of things - a book about cricket that will grip both fans and non-fans alike.