First published in 1986, this book sets Kipling firmly in the historical context not only of contemporary India but of prior Anglo-Indian writers about India. Despite his enthusiastic reception in England as 'revealer of the East', in India he seems to have been regarded as just one more Anglo-Indian writer. The author demonstrates the traditionalism of Kipling's use of the themes of Anglo-Indian fiction - themes such as the 'White Man's grave', domestic instability, frustration and loneliness. In particular, Kipling is shown to be writing in a strongly conservative idiom, concentrating on...