This is the edited journal of Nora Scott, wife of Mr Justice Scott, a judge of the Indian High Court in Bombay. The journal is much more than a personal diary; it gives a vivid, often moving picture of the British Raj in the 19th century, when it seemed to be at its most secure and confident. Nora Scott - herself a painter - paints a graphic picture of India, evoking the atmosphere of Indian weddings, religious processions and festivals. In the process, she also presents an important piece of social history and shows middle class life in British India, the harmony between the rising Indian middle and professional classes and the elite British Indian Civil Service. Among Nora Scott's circle there was respect for, and interest in, Indian culture, and easy social relations. There is no hint of the intense racism lurking somewhere under this civilized surface, nor of the triumphalism which grew later in the century.

Volume editor: John Radford