Relatively few British were actually present in India during the era of British rule, the Raj. But, from Rudyard Kipling on, the soldiers, administrators, their wives and their complicated relations with the subcontinent’s diverse cultures became an enduring cultural theme. David Gilmour wades in with his delightful, hefty study of those Brits, finding them almost as diverse as their Indian subjects. Some hated the place and some fell in love. Some were short-termers and others put down roots. The Brits remained almost as divided by class as they were in their homeland (not to mention the Indians with their castes and religious differences). The British in India is light on social forces but full of human stories that cast light on the reasons behind the events.
