Nigel Collett, reviewer for the Asian Review of Books, the Tongzhi Literary Group in Hong Kong, and Fridae.asia, recently commented on Imagining Gay Paradise:

“Atkins does not make this book a chronological series of biographical tales, but intersperses them, one with the other, to bring out the way the history of such unconnected lives resonates with similar themes… His background has given him a racy, journalistic style of writing that strongly and clearly carries his narrative lines…You can read Atkins with pleasure and without having to lug a dictionary around with you.”

Collett is the author of The Butcher of Amritsar, the acclaimed biography of General Reginald Dyer who, in 1919, marched a squad of soldiers into the holy city of Amritsar, India, and shot more than 200 Indians who had gathered to hear political speeches. The incident would later propel Gandhi’s understanding of the inhuman brutality of colonialism.

You can read Nigel Collett’s entire review of Imagining Gay Paradise at fridae.asia.