Sathnam Sanghera is author of EmpireLand: How Modern Britain is Shaped by its Imperial Past, memoir The Boy With The Topknot, and novel Marriage Material. The highly-anticipated sequel to Empireland, Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe is published on January 25th 2024 and is available for pre-order now.

“Essential and absorbing reading for those not afraid to encounter diligently researched, complex, and often contradictory truths about colonial rule and its legacies.”
Professor Alan Lester on Empireworld


“Categorising Sanghera’s book simply as history feels like a massive undersell. It’s also memoir, journalism, commentary on how we live now by examining how we lived then, and a book that achieves the crucial distinction of being important without being inaccessible… One could only wish that more people read this utterly engaging book, not just to better understand our country’s history, but to finally put to bed that awful question, “Where are you from really?” Rating: 10/10′
The Independent‘s History Book of the Year – Empireland


“Sathnam Sanghera’s new book is nuanced, intelligent and even entertaining. It is also refreshingly honest… As well as chronicling the familiar sins of empire, particularly in India, the author gives a fair hearing to those who emphasise the more positive aspects of imperial rule… [an] excellent book.”
The Economist on Empireland


“A noble, often poignant effort at self-education… a gracefully written book, but its real beauty lies in its complete absence of dogmatism. It’s so refreshing to encounter an author who isn’t bloody certain about everything…. In assessing the empire, Sanghera is… admirably equivocal… Empireland is not an angry diatribe; there’s enough of those already. It’s a sensitive, often uncomfortable commentary on the stubborn influence of empire. Sanghera loves his country but is no longer blind to its faults.”
Gerard DeGroot, The Times on Empireland


Marriage Material is a satirical masterpiece… razor-sharp… Sanghera is such an engaging and versatile writer that the pages fly by in a flurry of pathos, politics and paratha with extra butter.”
The Sunday Telegraph 


“Brilliantly written, deeply researched and massively important. It’ll stay in your head for years.”
John Oliver, of Last Week Tonight, on Empireland


“Sensitive… tenacious… funny and revealing… warm, witty, neurotic, self-deprecating, wordplay-loving…”
The Sunday Times on The Boy With The Topknot


“Gripping… elegant… there is no shred of misery or self-pity in The Boy With The Topknot, rather an endearing and intelligent humour which provokes honest laughter and absolute respect.”
The Daily Mail


“Marriage Material… an ingenious exercise in updating…. wryly comical… humane…. shrewdly humorous…. warm, keenly observant and immensely appealing.”
The Sunday Times


“Marriage Material mines rich veins… subtle and often very funny… delicately drawn…  deft sense of irony and self-awareness… tender… a cracking and pacy read.”
Meera Syal in The Observer


“Acerbic wit, unsentimental tenderness and a Black Country setting – I loved Marriage Material. Funny and tender and scathing – but insanely gripping as well. A great achievement.’
Catherine O’Flynn, author of What Was Lost


“Marriage Material is funny and insightful… a thoughtful examination of the complexities of modern Britain… an engrossing, entertaining and rewarding read.”
The Daily Mail


“Playful wit infuses the novel… Entertaining… important… absolutely fascinating.”
The Independent


“Smart, funny and melancholy, Marriage Material goes straight to the heart of family life.”
Marie Claire


“Marriage Material will take virtually no pages for you to be hooked.” 
Harper’s Bazaar 


“A gem of a multi-generational novel… funny and touching… brilliant chapter structure… a superbly updated version of Arnold Bennett’s The Old Wives’ Tale…. handled throughout with the lightest of touches, so that on reaching the end, you want to begin again to pick up the subtle nuances.” 
Psychologies


“The Boy With The Topknot… one of my favourite ever memoirs. I loved it. Brilliant.”
J.K. Rowling


“Honestly think that The Boy With The Topknot is one of the most enjoyable things I’ve read in years. I read it three times.”
Frank Cottrell-Boyce


“Whether he’s writing autobiography or fiction, Sathnam Sanghera is busy carving out his own literary niche – in the multicultural British Midlands – which he explores with incredible grace, generosity and humour. Definitely a man to watch.”
Jonathan Coe, GQ Magazine, “The Men of Next 25 years” 2013


“The Boy With The Topknot is witty as David Lodge… as moving as Angela’s Ashes… one of the most important books written in the last ten years. It’s going to be part of the canon of how Britain sees itself.”
Francis Gilbert, A Good Read, BBC Radio 4


“I absolutely loved The Boy With The Topknot. Heartbreaking and wonderful. He writes beautifully.”
Maggie O’Farrell, author of After You’d Gone


The Boy With The Topknot – could not be more enjoyable, engaging or moving.”
The Observer


“Tragic, funny and disturbing…  The Boy With The Topknot will challenge you, and may even change you. In other words, it’s literature.”
The Independent


“Beautifully vivid, poetic… frank and witty… affecting… fundamentally optimistic… fresh… appealing… funny…  The Boy With The Topknot is a wonderful read.”
James Naughtie, BBC Radio 4 Bookclub