The Book Prize Index

Edge of Empire: Conquest and Collecting on the Eastern Frontiers of the British Empire

Maya Jasanoff

A mansion filled with Western art in the center of old Calcutta, the Mughal emperor's letters in an archive in the French Alps, the names of Italian adventurers scratched into the walls of Egyptian temples. In this book, Jasanoff delves into the stories behind vestiges such as these to uncover the lives of people who lived on the frontiers of the British Empire during a pivotal century of its formation. She traces the exploits of collectors to tell an intimate history of imperialism, offering a fresh account of European imperialism that challenges received wisdom about how imperial power was asserted in Asia and the Middle East. This book enters a world where people lived, loved, mingled, and identified with one another in ways richer and more complex than we might have believed possible.--From publisher description

HistoryWorld History · medium confidenceWorld History81 signalsLlm Classifier: World History -> World HistoryKeyword Classifier: Arts & Criticism -> Arts & CriticismTopic Classifier: Art, Music & Performance -> Arts & CriticismArt, Music & PerformanceEmpire & ColonialismEssays & Cultural CriticismArchives, Museums & Historical Method

Award History

1 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Duff Cooper Prize: History, Biography & Political Science2005WinnerSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

    These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.

    • Calcutta60%
    • French Alps45%
    • Egyptian temples38%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    By tracing collectors’ exploits and the stories behind imperial-era vestiges, the book challenges received wisdom about how European imperial power was asserted in Asia and the Middle East.

    Model confidence 62%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    45 / 100 academic

    Trade / academic crossover

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 66%.