Last Children of the Raj

Book excerpt: Here is a unique entry-point into British and Indian social and cultural history in the last and momentous period in the history of the Raj. It is a vivid collection of individual memories of children born between 1914 and 1940 and who spent their childhood and adolescence in British India or the Princely States. It includes details of the roots in India, family connections, friendships with other British and Indian children, journeys, adventures, questions of color and race, and impressions of the Raj. The Second World War forms a natural break--war-time India, Independence and Partition, and the postwar return--how did they feel about the new India, and what had India given them and what did they give to India?