Three must-read books about colonialism

Edna Bonhomme is a critic, journalist, and historian of science. She is the author of A History of the World in Six Plagues (shortlisted for Best Science Book in Austria) and co-editor of After Sex. Her latest book is Tending To Our Wounds: A Diasporic Memoir. Bonhomme is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Camargo Foundation, the Max Planck Institute, the Robert Silvers Foundation, and more. Most recently, she was a 2026 finalist for the 2026 Nona Balakian Award from the National Book Critics Circle. Her essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique, London Review of Books, The Nation, The New Republic, Scientific American, and elsewhere. She has been based in Berlin since 2017.

At Book Riot Bonhomme tagged three books on colonialism that "are not only case studies of the psychological cost of colonialism but also testaments that the colonized are not passive victims." One title on the list:

Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent by Priyamvada Gopal

In this vivid, committed, and empathetic historical analysis, Gopal illuminates how anti-colonial critique was born from critics’ direct or indirect witnessing of rebellions in the colonies, from the Caribbean to India. Gopal shows how intellectuals and elites from the British colonies used their language of freedom to advocate for their own self-determination. It is an essential read for those interested in the agency of the colonized and in how some tried to use the master’s tools against the empire.

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue