“This is a wonderful book: at once a deep study of what modernity meant to some complex and fascinating Indian intellectuals, a rich analysis of a major scholar’s assumptions and practices, and a compelling read. Meeting Sarkar will be an unforgettable experience for anyone who shares his, and Chakrabarty’s, interest in historical research and writing.”
— Anthony Grafton, Princeton University
“A brilliant and fascinating study. What is particularly impressive is the humanity of Chakrabarty’s approach to Sarkar, who fell rapidly out of public favor after his death and was virtually ignored or even disliked by several generations of younger, more nationalistic historians thereafter. Elegant, accessible, and nuanced, The Calling of History will stand as the key text for the understanding of Indian historical writing between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries.”
— C. A. Bayly, University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London
“Chakrabarty’s writings are always a delight, wide-ranging and unfailingly original. Here, with a focus on Sir Jadunath Sarkar and his interlocutor, G. S. Sardesai, Chakrabarty brilliantly probes the creation of academic history as a discipline and its dialectic with popular conceptions of the past. This is a book that invites specialist and nonspecialist alike to fresh ways of understanding the discipline of history, not only in India but everywhere.”
— Barbara D. Metcalf, University of California, Davis
“It is rare to encounter a work that demonstrates with clarity and logic how abstract theoretical issues of the ‘philosophy of history,’ as well as political and ethical concerns, are entwined with the actual practice of the historian’s craft. By writing such a book, Chakrabarty has done all historians, and particularly the community of historians working in the field of South Asian historiography, a big favor.”
— American Historical Review