‘Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1900’ by Charles Allen
The author’s vivid characters and panoramic vistas helped define a nation, but no more than that nation defined him.
By Martin Rubin
May 2, 2009–L.A. Times
When the arch-satirist Nancy Mitford wanted to establish the ridiculousness of Lady Montdore, her megalomaniac character in “Love in a Cold Climate” who had recently returned from India with her husband the viceroy, Mitford had her declaim that they had put India on the map, no one really having heard of it before! Well, Rudyard Kipling might indeed have put the subcontinent into the literary consciousness of the world, so powerful was the impact of his indelible tales of the Indian Raj and its diverse people and cultures. . . .
For Martin’s full review, click here or visit www.latimes.com.