Before Siraj ud-Daulah became Nawab of Bengal in 1756, his grandfather
begged him to keep the English sweet, and put no trust in Jafar Ali Khan. If he had only listened...
20
One Man Army
ByEdward Fraser
The fort at Budge Budge near Calcutta proved stubborn against the
massed artillery of the East India Company, but a tipsy seaman took it all by himself.
21
The Lessons of Empire
ByW. Somerset Maugham
The British Empire’s hostile breakup with India should have taught everyone two things: money cannot buy love, and power does not command respect.
22
The Considerate Queen
BySir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III
When the young Aga Khan visited London in 1898 he was
presented to Queen Victoria, and found her cultural sensitivity deeply touching.
23
A Smuggler and a Gentleman
BySir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
Harry Paulet was going about his unlawful business when he
spotted a French fleet slip quietly out of Brest and into the Atlantic.
24
‘Kings in Our Own Right’
ByRudyard Kipling
Two former soldiers in India find British bureaucracy
cramps their style, so they set off to become kings of their own land.