An immersive portrait of the lives of the British in India, from the
seventeenth century to Independence
Who of the British went to India, and why? We know about Kipling and
Forster, Orwell and Scott, but what of the youthful forestry official,
the enterprising boxwallah, the fervid missionary? What motivated them
to travel halfway around the globe, what lives did they lead when they
got there, and what did they think about it all?
Full of spirited, illuminating anecdotes drawn from long-forgotten
memoirs, correspondence, and government documents, The British in
India weaves a rich tapestry of the everyday experiences of the Britons
who found themselves in "the jewel in the crown" of the British Empire.
David Gilmour captures the substance and texture of their work, home,
and social lives, and illustrates how these transformed across the
several centuries of British presence and rule in the subcontinent, from
the East India Company's first trading station in 1615 to the twilight
of the Raj and Partition and Independence in 1947. He takes us through
remote hill stations, bustling coastal ports, opulent palaces,
regimented cantonments, and dense jungles, revealing the country as seen
through British eyes, and wittily reveling in all the particular
concerns and contradictions that were a consequence of that limited
perspective. The British in India is a breathtaking accomplishment, a
vivid and balanced history written with brio, elegance, and erudition.
