“In Those Days There Was No Coffee” by A.R. Venkatachalapathy
Since it was first published in 2006, this beloved volume of essays by A. R. Venkatachalapathy on the cultural history of colonial Tamilnadu has been enjoyed equally by scholars looking for rigorous history-writing and lay informed readers in search of a classic good read. The new expanded edition hopes to do more of the same.
The author draws from sources as varied as poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, comments, advertisements, and notices to bring to life a rich and vibrant cultural history. As authoritative as they are captivating, the ten essays in the volume represent a valuable addition to the small corpus of history titles which also qualify as accomplished writing.
Read an extract from the book on Moneycontrol. It is published by Yoda Press/ Simon & Schuster India.
A.R. Venkatachalapathy, historian and Tamil writer, is a Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai. He has taught at universities in Tirunelveli, Chennai, Singapore, and Chicago. A recipient of the V.K.R.V. Rao Prize, the Mahakavi Bharati Award, and the Ramnath Goenka Award he has also received the Vilakku Pudumaippithan Award and Iyal Virudhu, both for lifetime contribution to Tamil. In 2024, he won the Sahitya Akademi award for Tamil. Venkatachalapathy has written/edited over thirty books in Tamil. His publications in English include Swadeshi Steam: V.O. Chidambaram Pillai and the Battle Against the British Maritime Empire (winner of the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence non-fiction, 2024); The Brief History of a Very Big Book: The Making of the Tamil Encyclopaedia; Tamil Characters: Personalities, Politics, Culture; Who Owns That Song?: The Battle for Subramania Bharati’s Copyright; and The Province of the Book: Scholars, Scribes, and Scribblers in Colonial Tamil Nadu.
15 Oct 2025
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