A comprehensive look into the lives and minds of the 1,000 or so strong British elite who ruled India during the Raj. The author has studied the characters involved for a long time. Lots of good anecdotes and glimpses into their successes and motivations. Light on the excesses and problems they left behind.

From Publishers Weekly

How much do we really know about the lives of the British in imperial India? Gilmour's deftly organized, encyclopedic account of the day-to-day existence of the members of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) upends the view of the British rulers as tyrannical, racist philistines, an image born out of such works as E.M. Forster's A Passage to India and advanced strenuously since postcolonial studies emerged in the 1970s.

David Gilmour, author of highly regarded biographies of Rudyard Kipling and Lord Curzon, assembles a wealth of light, amusing anecdotes on an astounding range of topics concerning the members of the ICS, including their college days, bad habits, job duties, gripes about the weather and courtship practices.