The British in India : three centuries of ambition and experience / David Gilmour.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 531-578) and index.

Part one: Aspirations. Numbers -- Motivations -- Origins and identities -- Imperial apprentices -- Voyages and other journeys -- Part two: Endeavours. Working lives: insiders -- Working lives: the open air -- The military life -- Part three: Experiences. Intimacies -- Domesticities -- Formalities -- Singularities -- At ease -- Last posts -- Envoi.

The British in this book 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, planters, engineers and many others, together with 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 an important period of British and Indian history.