The British in India

A panoramic social history chronicling the lives of hundreds of British people of all classes in the most important territory of the British Empire.

The British in India details the lives of the British who lived in India from shortly after the reign of Elizabeth I until well into the reign of Elizabeth II. They were soldiers, officials, businessmen, doctors, and missionaries of both sexes, as well as planters, engineers, and many others, along with their children, wives, and sisters.

This book describes their lives, their work, and their extraordinarily varied interactions with the native populations. It also records the very diverse roles they played in the three centuries of British-Indian history. Gilmour writes of people who have never been written about before, men and women who are presented here with humanity and often with humour.

The result is a magnificent tapestry of life, an exceptional work of scholarly recovery which reads like a great nineteenth-century novel. It makes a highly original and engaging contribution to a long and important period of British and Indian history.