books tagged “British Raj”

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Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj
by Marian Fowler

ISBN 0140082336 (0-14-008233-6)
Softcover, Penguin USA

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Book summary:
"below the peacock fan" traces the progress of five aristocratic english gentlewomen who suddenly found themselves, with the appointment of brother or husband as viceroy of india, expected to accompany him to that distant disturbing land. One moment, they were looking forward to afternoon tea under the elms if the mists cleared in time and the sun came out- the next, they were painfully uprooted and flung half-way round the world to a country where to venture outdoors when the sun struck dowm at noon was to risk sudden death. UK YES [via]
More editions of Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj:
- Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj: ISBN 0670807486 (0-670-80748-6)
  Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
- Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj: ISBN 0140082336 (0-14-008233-6)
  Softcover, Penguin USA
Children of Kali: Through India in Search of Bandits, the Thug Cult, and the British Raj
by Kevin Rushby

ISBN 0802714188 (0-8027-1418-8)
Hardcover, St Martins Pr

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- Children of Kali: Through India in Search of Bandits, the Thug Cult, and the British Raj: ISBN 0802714188 (0-8027-1418-8)
  Hardcover, St Martins Pr
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A Collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling

ISBN 1844287327 (1-84428-732-7)
Hardcover, Walker Books Ltd

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How did the rhinoceros get his wrinkly skin? Why won't cats come when they're called? How did one curious elephant with a nose for trouble change the lives of all elephants everywhere? These eight best-loved stories give inspired answers to these and other intriguing questions. Each story is illustrated by a different major contemporary picture-book artist. [via]
More editions of A Collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories:
- A Collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories: ISBN 1844287327 (1-84428-732-7)
  Hardcover, Walker Books Ltd
The Damascened Blade
by Barbara Cleverly

ISBN 038533950X (0-385-33950-X)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group

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More editions of The Damascened Blade:
- The Damascened Blade: ISBN 078671333X (0-7867-1333-X)
  Hardcover, Carroll & Graf Pub
- The Damascened Blade: ISBN 038533950X (0-385-33950-X)
  Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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The Day of the Scorpion: A Novel
by Paul Scott

ISBN 0226743411 (0-226-74341-1)
Softcover, Univ of Chicago Pr

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In The Day of the Scorpion, Scott draws us deeper in to his epic of India at the close of World War II. With force and subtlety, he recreates both private ambition and perversity, and the politics of an entire subcontinent at a turning point in history.

As the scorpian, encircled by a ring of fire, will sting itself to death, so does the British raj hasten its own destruction when threatened by the flames of Indian independence. Brutal repression and imprisonment of India's leaders cannot still the cry for home rule. And in the midst of chaos, the English Laytons withdraw from a world they no longer know to seek solace in denial, drink, and madness.
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Day of the Scorpion
by Gene Shelton

ISBN 0505517876 (0-505-51787-6)
Softcover, Leisure Books

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- Day of the Scorpion: ISBN 0505517876 (0-505-51787-6)
  Softcover, Leisure Books
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Disney's the Jungle Book
by Walt Disney Company, Rudyard Kipling

ISBN 157082293X (1-57082-293-X)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books

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Book summary:
The entire cast of The Jungle Book, including Mowgli, Shere Khan, Baloo, King Louie, and Bagheera, appears in a classic edition of the story, which features original artwork throughout and follows the story of a boy raised by wolves. [via]
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- Disney's the Jungle Book: ISBN 157082293X (1-57082-293-X)
  Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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A Division of the Spoils: A Novel
by Paul Scott

ISBN 0226743446 (0-226-74344-6)
Softcover, Univ of Chicago Pr

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The great war is over, and India--the jewel in the British crown--has been deemed worthless: a bauble to be tossed to the winds. A colonial policeman corrupted by ambition, power, and hatred goes to shocking extremes of cruelty to perpetuate a disappearing way of life. [via]
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E.M. Forster: A Passage to India
by Betty Jay

ISBN 184046027X (1-84046-027-X)
Softcover, Palgrave Macmillan

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In this Readers' Guide, Betty Jay considers the establishment of Forster's reputation and the various attempts of critics to decipher the complex codes that are a feature of his novel. Successive chapters focus on debates around Forster's liberal-humanism, with essays from F. R. Leavis, Lionel Trilling and Malcolm Bradbury; on the indeterminacy and ambiguity of the text, with extracts from essays by Gillian Beer, Robert Barratt, Wendy Moffat and Jo-Ann Hoeppner Moran; and on the sexual politics of Forster's work, with writings from Elaine Showalter, Frances L. Restuccia and Eve Dawkins Poll. The Guide concludes with essays from Jeffrey Meyers and Jenny Sharpe, who read A Passage to India in terms of its engagement with British imperialism.
[via]
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- E.M. Forster: A Passage to India: ISBN 184046027X (1-84046-027-X)
  Softcover, Palgrave Macmillan
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Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant That Took over the World
by Alan MacFarlane, Iris Macfarlane

ISBN 1585674931 (1-58567-493-1)
Hardcover, Overlook Press, The

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From the fourth century B.C. in China, where tea was used as an aid in Buddhist meditation, to the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when its destruction became a rousing symbol of the American Revolution, to its present-day role as the single most consumed beverage on the planet, The Empire of Tea explores the effects of the humble Camelia plantboth tragic and liberatingin the history of civilization. Alan MacFarlane explains, among other things, how tea became the worlds most prevalent addiction, its use as an instrument of imperial control, and how the cultivation of tea led to the invention of machines and technology during the industrial revolution.
The Empire of Tea also incorporates personal stories of the people whose lives have been affected by their contact with the global obsession with tea, including the elegantly detailed account of Iris MacFarlane about her life on a tea estate in the Indian province of Assam, the worlds center of tea cultivation. A fascinatingly tour of the worlds great tea culturesJapan, China, India, France, the United Kingdom, and othersThe Empire of Tea brings into sharp focus one of the forces that have shaped history. [via]
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- Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant That Took over the World: ISBN 1585674931 (1-58567-493-1)
  Hardcover, Overlook Press, The
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The Far Pavilions
by M. M. Kaye

ISBN 031215125X (0-312-15125-X)
Softcover, St Martins Pr

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When The Far Pavilions was first published nineteen years ago, it moved the critic Edmund Fuller to write this: "Were Miss Kaye to produce no other book, The Far Pavilions might stand as a lasting accomplishment in a single work comparable to Margaret Mitchell's achievement in Gond With the Wind."

From its beginning in the foothills of the towering Himalayas, M.M. Kaye's masterwork is a vast, rich and vibrant tapestry of love and war that ranks with the greatest panoramic sagas of modern fiction.

The Far Pavilions is itself a Himalayan achievement, a book we hate to see come to an end. it is a passionate, triumphant story that excites us, fills us with joy, move us to tears, satisfies us deeply, and helps us remember just what it is we want most from a novel.
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From Kashmir to Kabul: The Photographs of John Burke and William Baker 1860-1900
by Omar Khan

ISBN 3791327860 (3-7913-2786-0)
Hardcover, Prestel Pub

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- From Kashmir to Kabul: The Photographs of John Burke and William Baker 1860-1900: ISBN 3791327860 (3-7913-2786-0)
  Hardcover, Prestel Pub
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The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
by Peter Hopkirk

ISBN 1568360223 (1-56836-022-3)
Softcover, Kodansha Amer Inc

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In a phrase coined by Captain Arthur Connolly of the East India Company before he was beheaded in Bokhara for spying in 1842, a "Great Game" was played between Tsarist Russia and Victorian England for supremacy in Central Asia. At stake was the security of India, key to the wealth of the British Empire. When play began early in the 19th century, the frontiers of the two imperial powers lay two thousand miles apart, across vast deserts and almost impassable mountain ranges; by the end, only 20 miles separated the two rivals.
Peter Hopkirk, a former reporter for The Times of London with wide experience of the region, tells an extraordinary story of ambition, intrigue, and military adventure. His sensational narrative moves at breakneck pace, yet even as he paints his colorful characters--tribal chieftains, generals, spies, Queen Victoria herself--he skillfully provides a clear overview of the geographical and diplomatic framework. The Great Game was Russia's version of America's "Manifest Destiny" to dominate a continent, and Hopkirk is careful to explain Russian viewpoints as fully as those of the British. The story ends with the fall of Tsarist Russia in 1917, but the demise of the Soviet Empire (hastened by a decade of bloody fighting in Afghanistan) gives it new relevance, as world peace and stability are again threatened by tensions in this volatile region of great mineral wealth and strategic significance. --John Stevenson [via]
More editions of The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia:
- The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia: ISBN 4770017030 (4-7700-1703-0)
  Hardcover, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Limited
- The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia: ISBN 1568360223 (1-56836-022-3)
  Softcover, Kodansha Amer Inc
The Great Hedge of India
by Roy Moxham

ISBN 0786708409 (0-7867-0840-9)
Hardcover, Pgw

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- The Great Hedge of India: ISBN 0786708409 (0-7867-0840-9)
  Hardcover, Pgw
The Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier That Divided a Nation
by Roy Moxham

ISBN 0786709766 (0-7867-0976-6)
Softcover, Basic Books

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- The Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier That Divided a Nation: ISBN 0786709766 (0-7867-0976-6)
  Softcover, Basic Books
Heat and Dust
by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

ISBN 1582430152 (1-58243-015-2)
Softcover, Counterpoint

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- Heat and Dust: ISBN 1582430152 (1-58243-015-2)
  Softcover, Counterpoint
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Hobson Jobson: The Anglo-Indian Dictionary
by A. C. Burnell, H. Yule

ISBN 185326363X (1-85326-363-X)
Softcover, Wordsworth Editions Ltd

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Book summary:
Bungalow, pyjamas, tiffin, rickshaw, veranda, curry, cheroot, chintz, calico, gingham, mango, junk and catamaran are all words which have crept into the English language from the days of Britain's colonial rule of the Indian sub-continent and the Malaysian Peninsular. Hobson-Jobson (derived from the Islamic cry at the celebration of Muhurram 'Ya Hasan, ya Hosain' is shorthand for the assimilation of foreign words to the sound pattern of the adopting language. This dictionary, compiled in the late-19th century, is an invaluable source which has never been superseded. It is an essential book for all who are interested in English etymology and the development of the language. [via]
More editions of Hobson Jobson: The Anglo-Indian Dictionary:
- Hobson Jobson: The Anglo-Indian Dictionary: ISBN 185326363X (1-85326-363-X)
  Softcover, Wordsworth Editions Ltd
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Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive
by Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, William Crooke

ISBN 1870836111 (1-870836-11-1)
Hardcover, Linguasia

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Book summary:
rep. classic work. important reference on Indian culture, western perceptions. [via]
More editions of Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive:
- Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive: ISBN 8121501091 (81-215-0109-1)
  Hardcover, South Asia Books
- Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive: ISBN 1870836111 (1-870836-11-1)
  Hardcover, Linguasia
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The Jewel in the Crown
by Paul Scott

ISBN 0226743403 (0-226-74340-3)
Softcover, Univ of Chicago Pr

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Book summary:
"Ah no, waste no pity on young Kumar. Whatever he got while in the hands of the police he deserved. And waste no pity on her either. She also got what she deserved."
August 1942. World War II is reaching its apex, with the conflict consuming almost all of Asia and Europe. In Southeast Asia, the Japanese have driven the British army out of Burma and are threatening India, where Britain's beleaguered forces find themselves facing an increasingly hostile Indian populace tired of decades of unfulfilled promises of freedom. On a dark monsoonal night in the town of Mayapore, amid an outbreak of anti-British rioting, a gang of Indian men rape a young British woman. Through this rape, we are introduced to a cast of characters engulfed and subsequently carried away by the storm of events. Paul Scott's The Jewel in the Crown is part historical novel, part mystery, part love story, part allegory. But to reduce it to any of these elements is to miss its irony, poignancy, and beauty. Full of complex characters and rich in atmosphere and symbolism, this is a novel that works on many different levels.
The events unfold through the eyes of a varied cast of characters--both British and Indian--united by their inability to escape the straightjacket of race and social roles, no matter their class, education, or political views. This is particularly excruciating for the rape victim and the young Indian man accused of the crime. These two are drawn to each other by their alienation from the roles they are expected to play. Englishwoman Daphne Manners finds herself increasingly estranged from her countrymen, while Hari Kumar, an Indian who has lived in Britain for all but two years of his life and is so anglicized that he doesn't even speak Hindi, can't abide his native land. Their struggle with the identities and constraints that society imposes on them and the manifestations of their conflict form the core of the novel, providing the timelessness and richness that make it one of the great novels of the 20th century.
The Jewel in the Crown, originally published in 1966, is the first of the Raj Quartet, the sweeping epic that looks at the collapse in the 1940s of British rule in India. It was followed by The Day of the Scorpion, The Towers of Silence, and A Division of Spoils. --Jonathan King [via]
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The Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling

ISBN 1562542915 (1-56254-291-5)
Softcover, Saddleback Pub

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The Jungle Book introduces Mowgli, the human foundling adopted by a family of wolves. It tells of the enmity between him and the tiger Shere Khan, who killed Mowgli's parents, and of the friendship between the man-cub and Bagheera, the black panther, and Baloo, the sleepy brown bear, who instructs Mowgli in the Laws of the Jungle. The Second Jungle Book contains some of the most thrilling of the Mowgli stories. It includes Red Dog, in which Mowgli forms an unlikely alliance with the python Kaa, How Fear Came and Letting in the Jungle as well as The Spring Running, which brings Mowgli to manhood and the realisation that he must leave Bagheera, Baloo and his other friends for the world of man. [via]
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Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling

ISBN 1853261025 (1-85326-102-5)
Softcover, Lb May & Assoc Inc

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These wonderful and fanciful stories delight adult and child alike with their amusing and clever responses to such questions as how the leopard got his spots or why an elephant has a trunk. Kipling was born in India of English parents, and the impressions that exotic and fascinating country left on him in his early years would influence his writing in later years. Even in the deceptively simple Just So Stories, the reader recognizes Kipling's gifted ear for language and his vivid imagery.
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Just So Stories Set : For Little Children
by Rudyard Kipling, Safaya Salter

ISBN 1857939042 (1-85793-904-2)
Softcover, Anova Books

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Rudyard Kipling''s Just So Stories are a clas sic part of children''s literature. Safaya Salter provides il lustrations to the tales which explain some of the mysteries of the animal world. ' [via]
More editions of Just So Stories Set : For Little Children:
- Just So Stories Set : For Little Children: ISBN 1857939042 (1-85793-904-2)
  Softcover, Anova Books
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Kim
by Rudyard Kipling

ISBN 1593081928 (1-59308-192-8)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc

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One of the particular pleasures of reading Kim is the full range of emotion, knowledge, and experience that Rudyard Kipling gives his complex hero. Kim O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier stationed in India, is neither innocent nor victimized. Raised by an opium-addicted half-caste woman since his equally dissolute father's death, the boy has grown up in the streets of Lahore:
Though he was burned black as any native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the bazar; Kim was white--a poor white of the very poorest.
From his father and the woman who raised him, Kim has come to believe that a great destiny awaits him. The details, however, are a bit fuzzy, consisting as they do of the woman's addled prophecies of "'a great Red Bull on a green field, and the Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and'--dropping into English--'nine hundred devils.'"
In the meantime, Kim amuses himself with intrigues, executing "commissions by night on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of fashion." His peculiar heritage as a white child gone native, combined with his "love of the game for its own sake," makes him uniquely suited for a bigger game. And when, at last, the long-awaited colonel comes along, Kim is recruited as a spy in Britain's struggle to maintain its colonial grip on India. Kipling was, first and foremost, a man of his time; born and raised in India in the 19th century, he was a fervid supporter of the Raj. Nevertheless, his portrait of India and its people is remarkably sympathetic. Yes, there is the stereotypical Westernized Indian Babu Huree Chander with his atrocious English, but there is also Kim's friend and mentor, the Afghani horse trader Mahub Ali, and the gentle Tibetan lama with whom Kim travels along the Grand Trunk Road. The humanity of his characters consistently belies Kipling's private prejudices, and raises Kim above the mere ripping good yarn to the level of a timeless classic. --Alix Wilber [via]
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The Last Kashmiri Rose
by Barbara Cleverly

ISBN 0385339712 (0-385-33971-2)
Softcover, Dell Publishing

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Book summary:
Conjuring up the last golden days of the Raj and the turbulent early ones of Indian rule, this suspenseful and atmospheric first novelthe winner of the Crime Writer Associations Debut Dagger competitiondraws the governor of Bengal, local police authorities, and visiting Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands into an increasingly baffling and bizarre case of serial murder. It is 1922, in Panikhat. In March of each of the past five years the wife of an officer in the Bengal Greys has met with a violent and terrifying death. One died in a fire, another by a cobra bite, the third from a fall, and the fourth victim drowned. Of course, they all might have been accidents, while the death of Captain Somershams pretty young wife, who was found with her wrists cut, could be ruled a suicide. One link between the five cases, however, points to foul, disturbing play. On the anniversary of the deaths small red roses mysteriously appear on the womens graves. With only a few days to go before the end of March and with faith in the new Western science of psychological profiling, Joe Sandilands finds himself running a race against time and a serial killer who alone knows the recipient of the next Kashmiri rose. The atmosphere of the dying days of the Raj is colorfully captured.Sunday Telegraph Introduces an intelligent author and an interesting investigator.Morning Star
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On Horseback Through Asia Minor
by Fred Burnaby

ISBN 1590480317 (1-59048-031-7)
Softcover, Long Riders Guild Pr

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- On Horseback Through Asia Minor: ISBN 1590480317 (1-59048-031-7)
  Softcover, Long Riders Guild Pr
The Palace Tiger
by Barbara Cleverly

ISBN 0385340095 (0-385-34009-5)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group

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Book summary:
India, 1922: Joe Sandilands, Scotland Yard detective, is staying with Governor Sir George Jardine in Simla when there is some unexpected news. Sir George sends Joe off to the Princely State of Ranipur in the company of Edgar Troop, an experienced hunter, at the request of the Maharajah, an old ally of the British. A man-eating tiger is terrorizing the northern villages, and the two men are invited to join a hunting party in the forest. But the quality of the weaponry with which Sir George supplies him raises Joes suspicions. The rifle will be perfect for the tiger, but why has he also been issued with the small Browning M pistol, designed for use on human targets?

The Maharajah is dying and the succession is unclear. His first son has recently been killed in a panther-related incident. Then a second son dies dramatically before Joes eyes. The third and last remaining sonthe favorite successor in the eyes of the Britishis only twelve years old.

In the luxurious setting of the Maharajahs court with its array of powerful, scheming characters, Joe must track down a clever murdererall under the mocking and hostile eye of the ruthless Chief of State Police.
[via]
More editions of The Palace Tiger:
- The Palace Tiger: ISBN 0786715723 (0-7867-1572-3)
  Hardcover, Carroll & Graf Pub
- The Palace Tiger: ISBN 0385340095 (0-385-34009-5)
  Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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A Passage to India: Library Edition
by E. M. Forster

ISBN 0156711427 (0-15-671142-7)
Softcover, Harvest Books

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Book summary:
What really happened in the Marabar caves? This is the mystery at the heart of E.M. Forster's 1924 novel, A Passage to India, the puzzle that sets in motion events highlighting an even larger question: Can an Englishman and an Indian be friends?
"It is impossible here," an Indian character tells his friend, Dr. Aziz, early in the novel.
"They come out intending to be gentlemen, and are told it will not do.... Why, I remember when Turton came out first. It was in another part of the Province. You fellows will not believe me, but I have driven with Turton in his carriage--Turton! Oh yes, we were once quite intimate. He has shown me his stamp collection.
"He would expect you to steal it now. Turton! But red-nosed boy will be far worse than Turton!
"I do not think so. They all become exactly the same, not worse, not better. I give any Englishman two years, be he Turton or Burton. It is only the difference of a letter. And I give any Englishwoman six months. All are exactly alike."
Written while England was still firmly in control of India, Forster's novel follows the fortunes of three English newcomers to India--Miss Adela Quested, Mrs. Moore, and Cyril Fielding--and the Indian, Dr. Aziz, with whom they cross destinies. The idea of true friendship between the races was a radical one in Forster's time, and he makes it abundantly clear that it was not one that either side welcomed. If Aziz's friend, Hamidullah, believed it impossible, the British representatives of the Raj were equally discouraging.
"Why, the kindest thing one can do to a native is to let him die," said Mrs. Callendar.
"How if he went to heaven?" asked Mrs. Moore, with a gentle but crooked smile.
"He can go where he likes as long as he doesn't come near me. They give me the creeps."
Despite their countrymen's disapproval, Miss Quested, Mrs. Moore, and Mr. Fielding are all eager to meet Indians, and in Dr. Aziz they find a perfect companion: educated, westernized, and open-minded. Slowly, the friendships ripen, especially between Aziz and Fielding. Having created the possibility of esteem based on trust and mutual affection, Forster then subjects it to the crucible of racial hatred: during a visit to the famed Marabar caves, Miss Quested accuses Dr. Aziz of sexually assaulting her, then later recants during the frenzied trial that follows. Under such circumstances, affection proves to be a very fragile commodity indeed.
Arguably Forster's greatest novel, A Passage to India limns a troubling portrait of colonialism at its worst, and is remarkable for the complexity of its characters. Here the personal becomes the political and in the breach between Aziz and his English "friends," Forster foreshadows the eventual end of the Raj. --Alix Wilber [via]
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Princess Remembers: Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur
by Gayatri Devi, Santha Rama Rau

ISBN 8171673074 (81-7167-307-4)
Softcover, Rupa & Company

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She is the daughter of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar and the widow of the Maharaja of Jaipur. She was raised in a sumptuous palace staffed with 500 servants and she shot her first panther when she was twelve. She has appeared on the lists of the world's most beautiful women. Gayatri Devi describes her carefree tomboy childhood; her secret six-year courtship with the dashing, internationally renowned polo player, Jai the Maharaja of Jaipur; and her marriage and entrance into the City Palace of the 'pink city' where she had to adjust to unfamiliar customs and life with his two wives. Jai's liberating influence, combined with Gayatri Devi's own strong character, took her well beyond the traditionally limited activities of a Maharani. This is an intimate look at the extraordinary life of one of the world's most fascinating women and an informal history of the princely states of India, from the height of the princes' power to their present state of de-recognition. Maharani Gayatri Devi was the last Queen of Jaipur in Rajasthan. Gayatri Devi was listed in Vogue as one of the most beautiful women in the world. [via]
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- Princess Remembers: Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur: ISBN 8171673074 (81-7167-307-4)
  Softcover, Rupa & Company
Ragtime in Simla
by Barbara Cleverly

ISBN 0385339720 (0-385-33972-0)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group

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Book summary:
Simla 1922. While the rest of India bakes in the hot season, up in the pine-scented coolness of the Himalayan hills the English have recreated a vision of home. Here are half-timbered houses, amateur theatricals, gymkhanas and a glittering vice-regal court for the socialites. The summer capital of the British Raj is fizzing with the energy of the jazz age. It is toward this country that detective Joe Sandilands is heading as the guest of the governor of Bengal. But when Joe's travelling companion, a Russian opera singer, is shot dead at his side on the road to Simla, he finds himself plunged into a murder investigation. As Joe begins to unravel the mystery which has its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, he discovers that behind the sparkling facade of Simla lies a trail of murder, vice and blackmail. [via]
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Rains Came
by Louis Bromfield

ISBN 1931541116 (1-931541-11-6)
Softcover, Simon Pubns

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- Rains Came: ISBN 1931541116 (1-931541-11-6)
  Softcover, Simon Pubns
The Raj Quartet
by Paul Scott

ISBN 0688033377 (0-688-03337-7)
Hardcover, Harpercollins

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- The Raj Quartet: ISBN 0688033377 (0-688-03337-7)
  Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India
by Lawrence James

ISBN 0312263821 (0-312-26382-1)
Softcover, St Martins Pr

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Book summary:
This is the magnificently recounted story of one of the wonders of the modern world. In less than one hundred years, the British made themselves masters of India. They ruled it for another hundred, departing in 1947, leaving behind the independent states of India and Pakistan. Both nations owed much to Britain: British rule taught Indians to see themselves as Indians, and its benefits included railways, roads, canals, schools, universities, hospitals, law, and a universal language. There were also habits of mind and government that where derived from British custom.
None of this however, was planned. A series of emergencies in the eighteenth century transformed the East India Company into the most formidable war machine in Asia, and conquest gathered its own momentum. Fortunes were made, but the conscience of Britain was troubled by the despotism that was being created in its name. The result was a government that balanced firmness with benevolence, and had as its goal the advancement of India. There was resistance, both to the conquerors and, in the Indian mutiny, to the Raj they had made. This is a story of wars won against the odds and astonishing heroism, but it is also a tale of how, for many reasons millions of Indians collaborated with their new rulers and made possible the government of so many by so few. Raj contains much that is new, hidden, and controversial on areas as varied as the Mutiny, the Great Game, and the taxing of India.
The Raj, outwardly so monolithic and magnificent, was always precarious. Its masters knew that its survival ultimately depended on the goodwill of Indians, which was why pressure for self-government was met with a mixture of compromise and sternness. The twists and turns of the struggle for independence are told with a wealth of fresh material. Lawrence James galvanizes a subject already rich in incident and character: the India of the Raj was that of Clive, the Marquess Wellesley, Havelock, Kipling, Curzon, and Gandhi and a host of lesser known but vivid men and women. Raj probes their world and how they reacted to it. It will also provoke debate, using recently released official and private papers--to shed new light, flattering and unflattering, on Mountbatten and the other central and tragic events of 1946-47 that ended what had been simultaneously an exercise in benign autocracy and an experiment in altruism. [via]
More editions of Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India:
- Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India: ISBN 031219322X (0-312-19322-X)
  Hardcover, St Martins Pr
- Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India: ISBN 0312263821 (0-312-26382-1)
  Softcover, St Martins Pr
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A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia
by Frederick Burnaby

ISBN 1590480198 (1-59048-019-8)
Softcover, Long Riders Guild Pr

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He was a giant in his day, in terms of physical strength and literary fame. Captain Frederick Burnaby not only stood over most men in the flesh, he towered over them when it came to cold courage. A case in point was his decision to explore Russia on horseback in 1875, a country which had just been declared off-limits to all foreigners by the Czar. That didnt intimidate Burnaby. A famous swordsmen and notable linguist, the author set off determined to cross Russia during the height of winter. His goal? The forbidden Central Asian city of Khiva! The resultant tale is a classic of equestrian adventure travel. Burnaby fills every page with a memorable cast of characters, including hard-riding Cossacks, nomadic Tartars, vodka-guzzling sleigh-drivers and a legion of peasant ruffians. A Ride to Khiva remains one of the most thrilling tales of the Victorian Age. [via]
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- A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia: ISBN 1590480198 (1-59048-019-8)
  Softcover, Long Riders Guild Pr
A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia
by Frederick Gustavas Burnaby

ISBN 1589762274 (1-58976-227-4)
Softcover, Narrative Pr

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- A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia: ISBN 1589762274 (1-58976-227-4)
  Softcover, Narrative Pr
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Rudyard Kipling: El Libro De La Selva / The Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling, M. M. Kaye

ISBN 1856264491 (1-85626-449-1)
Softcover, Kyle Cathie Ltd

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Book summary:
1990 Kyle Cathie Limited paperback edition., foreword by MM Kaye. 702 pages. [via]
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Shadow of the Moon
by M. M. Kaye

ISBN 0553277383 (0-553-27738-3)
Softcover, Bantam Books

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- Shadow of the Moon: ISBN 0312714106 (0-312-71410-6)
  Hardcover, St Martins Pr
- Shadow of the Moon: ISBN 0553277383 (0-553-27738-3)
  Softcover, Bantam Books
Soldier Sahibs: The Daring Adventurers Who Tamed India's Northwest Frontier
by Charles Allen

ISBN 0786708611 (0-7867-0861-1)
Hardcover, Carroll & Graf Pub

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  Hardcover, Carroll & Graf Pub
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Thejungle Books
by Rudyard Kipling

ISBN 159308109X (1-59308-109-X)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc

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P. Craig Russell is well on his way to being the premiere emissary of classic literary gems to the world of comics. His Arabian Nights collaboration with Neil Gaiman in The Sandman #50, comics versions of Mozart's Magic Flute, and his continuing adaptations of Oscar Wilde's fairy tales all stand as testament to his amazing graphic and narrative sensibilities. His treatment of the last three chapters of Kipling's Jungle Book ("The King's Ankus," "Red Dog," and "The Spring Running") will inspire both Kipling enthusiasts and lovers of fine illustration. Russell's composition is amazing: he has the ability to create harmony in a single page while each panel sings its melody. This collection also features enhanced colors, either reshot or reseparated, and the results are a treat. [via]
More editions of Thejungle Books:
- Thejungle Books: ISBN 159308109X (1-59308-109-X)
  Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia
by Shareen Blair Brysac, Karl Ernest Meyer

ISBN 158243106X (1-58243-106-X)
Softcover, Counterpoint

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Throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th, the Russian and British Empires played out a chess game of diplomacy, espionage, and military thrusts into Central Asia to protect their expanding interests. When play began, the frontiers of their empires lay 2,000 miles apart, across vast deserts and almost impassable mountain ranges; by the end, they were separated by only 20 miles. Karl E. Meyer of The New York Times and Shareen Blair Brysac, documentary filmmaker for CBS, update and significantly expand earlier studies of the imperial rivalry, notably Peter Hopkirk's pioneering The Great Game. Tournament of Shadows reads like a racy adventure story, yet there is no need for the authors to embellish their well-researched facts. The region attracted a host of bizarre characters, each with his own idiosyncratic goals. The authors begin with the journey to Bokhara of an ambitious horse doctor, hired by the East India Company in 1806 to improve its breeding stock, and end with the CIA's assistance to anti-Chinese guerrillas in Tibet during the cold war. American participants in the opening of Central Asia have not previously received much attention, but Tournament of Shadows introduces adventurers such as William Rockhill, commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution in the 1880s to explore Tibet, and William McGovern, who, to the chagrin of the British, reached Lhasa in 1923. The wealth and instability of Central Asia continue to keep the region in the headlines, motivating the Soviet Union's disastrous 10-year intervention in Afghanistan and fueling an international race for resources--especially oil--today. --John Stevenson [via]
More editions of Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia:
- Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia: ISBN 1582430284 (1-58243-028-4)
  Hardcover, Counterpoint
- Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia: ISBN 158243106X (1-58243-106-X)
  Softcover, Counterpoint
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The Towers of Silence: A Novel
by Paul Scott

ISBN 0226743438 (0-226-74343-8)
Softcover, Univ of Chicago Pr

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The third novel of a quartet set in India which began with "The Jewel in the Crown". As the war enters its last bitter stage, the English wives, daughters, mothers and widows of officers embroiled in the ongoing conflict gather in Pankot, their old beliefs and assumptions seriously threatened. [via]
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Travels and Adventures in Central Asia: A Ride to Khiva
by Fred Burnaby

ISBN 9694022738 (969-402-273-8)
Hardcover, Vanguard Books

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- Travels and Adventures in Central Asia: A Ride to Khiva: ISBN 9694022738 (969-402-273-8)
  Hardcover, Vanguard Books
The Viceroy's Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters
by Anne De Courcy

ISBN 006093557X (0-06-093557-X)
Softcover, HarperCollins Canada, Limited

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White Mughals
by William Dalrymple

ISBN 014200412X (0-14-200412-X)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA

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White Mughals is the romantic and ultimately tragic tale of a passionate love affair that crossed and transcended all the cultural, religious and political boundaries of its time.

James Achilles Kirkpatrick was the British Resident at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad when in 1798 he glimpsed Kahir un-Nissa'Most excellent among Women'the great-niece of the Nizam's Prime Minister and a descendant of the Prophet. Kirkpatrick had gone out to India as an ambitious soldier in the army of the East India Company, eager to make his name in the conquest and subjection of the subcontinent. Instead, he fell in love with Khair and overcame many obstacles to marry hernot least of which was the fact that she was locked away in purdah and engaged to a local nobleman. Eventually, while remaining Resident, Kirkpatrick converted to Islam, and according to Indian sources even became a double-agent working for the Hyderabadis against the East India Company.

It is a remarkable story, involving secret assignations, court intrigue, harem politics, religious and family disputes. But such things were not unknown; from the early sixteenth century, when the Inquisition banned the Portuguese in Goa from wearing the dhoti, to the eve of the Indian mutiny, the 'white Mughals' who wore local dress and adopted Indian ways were a source of embarrassments to successive colonial administrations. William Dalrymple unearths such colourful figures as 'Hindoo Stuart', who travelled with his own team of Brahmins to maintain his temple of idols, and who spent many years trying to persuade the memsahibs of Calcutta to adopt the sari; and Sir David Ochterlony, Kirkpatrick's counterpart in Delhi, who took all thirteen of his wives out for evening promenades, each on the back of their own elephant.

In White Mughals, William Dalrymple discovers a world almost entirely unexplored by history, and places at its centre a compelling tale of love, seduction and betrayal. It possesses all the sweep and resonance of a great nineteenth-century novel, set against a background of shifting alliances and the manoeuvring of the great powers, the mercantile ambitions of the British and the imperial dreams of Napoleon. White Mughals, the product of five years' writing and research, triumphantly confirms Dalrymple's reputation as one of the finest writers at work today.

[via]
More editions of White Mughals:
- White Mughals: ISBN 014200412X (0-14-200412-X)
  Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India
by William Dalrymple

ISBN 0670031844 (0-670-03184-4)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA

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From the early sixteenth century, it was common for British colonizers in India to embarrass the Crown by "turning Turk" or "going native." Few caused greater scandal than James Kirkpatrick, a British resident in the Court of Hyderabad, who converted to Islam and spied on the East India Company in the midst of an affair with Khair un-Nissa, the great-niece of the region's prime minister.

White Moguls is rich with many eccentric characters, from "Hindoo Stuart," who traveled with his own team of Brahmins, to Alexander Gardner, an American whose self-invented costume was showcased by a tartan turban with egret plumes. A remarkable love story set in an exotic and previously unexplored world, White Moguls is full of secrets, intrigue, espionage, and religious disputes and conjures all the resonance of a great nineteenth-century novel. [via]
More editions of White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India:
- White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India: ISBN 0670031844 (0-670-03184-4)
  Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
Women of the Raj
by Margaret MacMillan

ISBN 0500278989 (0-500-27898-9)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc

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An account of Britain's involvement in India over three and a half centuries, which focuses upon the period between 1850 and 1947 to recreate the role of the women of the Raj, drawing on their letters, memoirs, novels and from interviews with survivors. First published in 1988. [via]
More editions of Women of the Raj:
- Women of the Raj: ISBN 0500014205 (0-500-01420-5)
  Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
- Women of the Raj: ISBN 0500278989 (0-500-27898-9)
  Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc