Hicky's Bengal Gazette: The Untold Story of India's First Newspaper

Review ------ ‘Mr. Otis’s biography is worthy of top honours.’ – Sunil Sethi, Business Standard ‘Did freedom of the press triumph? For that you must turn to Otis’s book, as he sketches a riveting tale of the struggle of India’s first newspaper editor.’ – Sunandan Roy Chowdhury, The Hindu ‘Hicky’s Bengal Gazette remains a compelling read all the way through to its elegiac conclusion.’ – Karthik Shankar, South China Morning Post ‘[Otis] makes this key piece of colonial history and Indian journalism both vibrant and droll, which is no small task.’ – Karthik Shankar, South China Morning Post ‘Otis’ book comes at a time when the integrity of media is under the scanner the world over. The sition that Hicky faced from the establishment in the 1700s still finds relevance today, and that's one of the main reasons this book makes for enlightening reading.’ – Gaurab Dasgupta, The Financial Express ‘Otis writes a lively, minutely detailed account of Hicky’s life.’ – Chandrima S. Bhattacharya, The Telegraph ‘Mr. Otis has done a fantastic job in terms of sheer dogged research, digging through dusty archives at Calcutta High Court, Victoria Memorial and the National Library. Readers familiar with those august institutions will marvel at what he's managed to extract.’ – Devangshu Dutta, Business Standard ‘'The burden of Hicky’s campaign was this: if the Crown’s subjects in England enjoyed rights and liberties of speech and expression under English law, the same rights and liberties ought to be extended to the Crown’s subjects in India, too.’ – R. Prasannan, The Week ‘For five years, journalism researcher Andrew Otis pored over yellowing documents in Indian, British and German libraries to show how the Papa of the Bengal Press stood by his principles that every person had the right to express their opinions freely.’ G. Krishnan, India Today ‘An extremely well-written book’ – Pratik Kanjilal, Indian Express About the Author ---------------- Andrew Otis is a journalist and historian. He holds a BA in History and Political Science from the University of Rochester and is currently pursuing a PhD in Journalism at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Andrew spent five years researching and writing on Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, first as a Joseph P. O’Hern scholar in London and then as a Fulbright-Fellow to Kolkata, India (2013-2014). Andrew lives in Washington D.C.

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