A History of Burning

At the turn of the twentieth century Pirbhai, a teenage boy, is taken from his village in India and travels perilously across the sea to labour on the East African railroad for the British. There, he is given a ruthless order. Following it will ensure his survival. But it will also torment him and reverberate across his family’s future for decades to come.

During the waning days of British colonial rule, and as Uganda moves towards independence and military dictatorship, Pirbhai’s children and grandchildren come of age in a divided nation. In 1972, when Idi Amin’s brutal regime expels the Ugandan Asians, the family has no choice but to flee. In the chaos, they leave something devastating and unexpected behind.

As Pirbhai’s grandchildren find their way back to each other in exile in Toronto, a letter arrives that will stoke the flames of the fire that haunts the family. It makes each generation question how far they are willing to go, and who they are willing to defy, in order to secure their own place in the world.

A History of Burning is an unforgettable tour de force, an intimate family saga of complicity and resistance, about the stories we share, what remains unspoken and the eternal search for home.