Edward Ingram
PROFESSOR OF IMPERIAL HISTORY EMERITUS
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY,
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
I was glad to be accepted in the "British India" course under Professor Ingram. It was well worth the wait. He was charismatic and dramatic as a teacher, and very provocative in his constant attempts to make us think critically and unconventionally about history. He was known to discard with the usual textbooks and instead relied on historical literature to weave together a bigger picture about social life in the Raj.
For the record, the books we read for the "British India" seminar course included:
(1924, by E.M. Forster)
(1934, by George Orwell)
(1888, by Rudyard Kipling)
(1942, by Somerset Maugham)
(1883, by G.A. Henty)
(1719, by Daniel Defoe)
I was intrigued with the choice of books, particularly wondering what Robinson Crusoe had to do with British India. It was a revelation to learn that it was the idea of being an ideal colonizer treating his imperial environment as a barren land, devoid of others and full of opportunity to construct a new world.
Among the many publications of Edward Ingram include the following on my bookshelf:
Professor Ingram made a reference to my father's autobiography From Farm and Kampong in his preface to Empire-building and Empire-builders. Take a look at it on p xiii and xiv!
Here's the essay, titled "The Illusion and the Code" I wrote for the seminar, for which I received an unexpectedly nice grade, which in turn prompted me to apply to do an Honours thesis, which was in turn rejected by Ingram in favour of me writing an M.A. theses instead.
My university essay on British India for Professor Ingram. I had a frightful shock upon receiving it back from him. Look for the grade he awarded me and see if you can understand my shock.