Professor Nandini Das’s book nominated for Duff Cooper Prize

Tutorial Fellow in English Professor Nandini Das’s book Courting India: England, Mughal India, and the Origins of Empire has been nominated for the Duff Cooper Prize for non-fiction. The nomination comes after much prior acclaim, including winning the British Academy Book Prize for Global and Cultural Understanding.

The Duff Cooper website describes Courting India as ‘a major debut’ that ‘offers a rich and radical challenge to our understanding of Britain and its early empire.’ Professor Das writes of last year’s winner, Anna Keay’s The Restless Republic, this is a ‘tough act to follow.’ Nonetheless, Courting India offers a fascinating critical examination of our historical, literary, and revolutionary construction of Britishness. It is one of six shortlisted books, which have been described as ‘future classics, stimulants to thought, conversation, and omnivorous curiosity’.

The Duff Cooper Prize winner will be announced on 4 March 2024. Exeter College congratulates Professor Das for Courting India’s nomination, as well as its recognition and achievements to date.