In this collection of short stories Kipling succeeds in shattering such misapprehensions about life in India during the British Raj. Drawing on his own experiences as a cub reporter he is able to interpret the ways and beliefs as well as the work and pleasures of the Imperial administrators and the races they governed that were half a world away from his original Victorian readers.
Viceroys and beggars soldiers an their officers civil servants and children - and some very clever women - all play their parts in the history of a sub-continent. And although everywhere there are barriers between the races the classes and the sexes the inevitable misunderstanding between them as often end in comedy as in tragedy.