The ruling caste : imperial lives in the Victorian Raj / David Gilmour.

The ruling caste : imperial lives in the Victorian Raj / David Gilmour.

First American edition.

9780374283544 (alk. paper)
0374283540 (alk. paper)

New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.

English

xxiii, 381 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

DS475 .G55 2006

954.03/508621

Between 1837 and 1901, fewer than 100,000 Britons managed an empire of 300 million people spread over the vast area that now includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Burma. How was this possible, and what were these people like? The British administration in India took pride in its efficiency and broad-mindedness, its devotion to duty and its sense of imperial grandeur, but it has become fashionable to deprecate it for its arrogance and ignorance. In this balanced history, author Gilmour goes far to explain the paradoxes of the "Anglo-Indians," showing us what they hoped to achieve and what sort of society they thought they were helping to build. He deals with the real trials and triumphs of an imperial ruling class; the dangerous temptations that an empire's power encourages; and relations between governor and governed, between European and Asian.--From publisher description.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-359) and index.

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