After the Raj: The Last Stayers-On and the Legacy of British India

As August 1947 approached the British prepared to leave India. While the vast majority of the British left, some stayed on and others who had grown up in India shortly returned. Over the next 60 years they adapted to modern India while always being conscious of their legacy, the inheritance of the Raj. There are only 30 such people left and Hugh Purcell has interviewed ten of them. Each has a remarkable story to tell and a perceptive empathy with the issue of being British in India. Through the eyes of these individuals, Hugh Purcell shows how the legacy of the Raj has withered over the years. He also shows how the country is evolving in the new millennium, from post-imperial hangover to heritage industry, from the singing of Victorian hymns in neo-Gothic churches to a new Christian evangelism, from Shakespeare wallahs to multimedia English language teaching and call centers.