'Islanded' makes a critical contribution to our understanding of South Asian and Indian ocean history and provides a novel lens through which to review both the British taking of and departure from India. Using a wealth of colonial and indigenous documents, Sujit Sivasundaram makes an intriguing argument that during the first phases of their rule, the British undertook an unfinished process of severing or 'partitioning' Sri Lanka from the mainland, so emphasizing its Buddhist and Sinhala character.