If there is one theme that unites all the essays in this collection, it’s that of exploitation: corporate greed,

the abuse of natural

resources, forceful expansion, political advantage-taking, shameless hypocrisy and expediency. In the real world, the
powerful win against the good, the best liars get away with it, force trumps virtue, theft and violation go unpunished, hubris
and karma lie thin on the ground. No authority figure or moral pronouncement is exempt from critical engagement. Roy’s
done the research, and she has all the receipts.

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Some of the essays provoke intense sadness, such as her commentary on the early days of the invasion of Iraq and
Afghanistan. In The Algebra of Infinite Justice, published in September 2001, she writes: “A coalition of the world’s
superpowers is closing in on Afghanistan, one of the poorest, most ravaged, war-torn countries in the world… As supplies
run out – food and aid agencies have been evacuated – the BBC reports that one of the worst humanitarian disasters of
recent times has begun to unfold.” War Is Peace, Roy’s excoriation of US military policies – including bombing 20 different
countries since the second world war at the time she was writing – is a highlight of the book. In An Ordinary Person’s Guide
to Empire, she also looks at British and US support for Saddam Hussein and his eight-year war against Iran. It is hard to
read these studies in 2019, with the whole region destabilised, Syria in ruins, the racist culture wars raging globally, a
proliferation of nihilistic terrorism and a millions-strong refugee emergency.

In keeping with the current #MeToo movement, the last two essays concern Elizabeth director Shekhar Kapur’s notorious
film Bandit Queen, about Phoolan Devi, the low-caste woman who became a rebellious champion of India’s underdogs
despite repeated rapes, abuse and human rights violations. Kapur “openly admitted that he didn’t feel that he needed to
meet Phoolan”, while his male producer said she was “too much trouble” to consult, and so they used “the identity of a living
woman, recreating her degradation and humiliation for public consumption… doing it without her consent”. Screening the
film “to jeering male audiences made her feel she had been raped all over again”. Kapur still has a reputation as a great
auteur; Devi was pursued through the courts and assassinated in 2001.

Roy writes in her foreword that “Not one iota of my anger has diminished” since the time of writing these essays. Yet they do
not come across as angry. Instead, their impact comes from their precision, research and damningly clear reportage.

• My Seditious Heart by Arundhati Roy is published by Hamish Hamilton (£30). To order a copy go
to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £15, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99

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