{"id":22800,"date":"2023-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/?p=22800&preview=true&preview_id=22800"},"modified":"2023-04-24T16:50:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:50:04","slug":"the-classic-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/2023\/03\/16\/the-classic-book\/","title":{"rendered":"The classic book"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The classic book <\/h2>\n\n

Shrabani Basu<\/span> on an insightful look at the experiences of women in British India <\/h5>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Women of the Raj <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

by Margaret MacMillan <\/p>\n\n

(Thames & Hudson, 1988) <\/h5>\n\n

We have seen them in black-and-white photographs of the time: women in starched gowns and broad-brimmed hats taking tea on manicured lawns, a liveried Indian servant inevitably attending on them. Margaret MacMillan, however, takes us behind the gloss to reveal the real lives of women who travelled thousands of miles to live in India at the height of the British empire. <\/p>\n\n

Women of the Raj <\/em>tells stories of their lives there \u2013 as wives, as teachers or as those seeking husbands, known as the \u201cfishing fleet\u201d. It was not always a life of privilege, and the class system largely prevailed. Wives of ordinary soldiers travelled below deck in rat-infested cabins, while upper-class ladies enjoyed fresh breezes on deck. <\/p>\n\n

Once in India, the women adapted quickly, covering their ankles with pillowcases to ward off mosquitoes, and pouring paraffin under their beds to keep pests at bay. Boredom and heat often got to them. Some, such as Eliza Fay (1755\/56\u20131816) and Flora Annie Steel (1847\u20131929), wrote about their experiences on the subcontinent. <\/p>\n\n

MacMillan\u2019s book inspired me to look at stories that had not <\/em>been told, and to focus on the little details and anecdotes that would bring a story to life. It piqued my interest in telling the unknown tales of the Raj \u2013 of the real Adela Questeds, Cyril Fieldings and Dr Azizes, of the lives that were shaped by passages to India and passages to England, and the hidden histories locked within. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Shrabani Basu <\/strong>is the author of Victoria <\/em>& <\/em>Abdul: <\/em>The <\/em>True <\/em>Story <\/em>of <\/em>the <\/em>Queen\u2019s <\/em>Closest <\/em>Confidant <\/em>(History Press, 2010) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The classic book Shrabani Basu on an insightful look at the experiences of women in British India Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan (Thames & Hudson, 1988) We have seen them in black-and-white photographs of the time: women in starched gowns and broad-brimmed hats taking tea on manicured lawns, a liveried Indian servant inevitably 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classic book Shrabani Basu on an insightful look at the experiences of women in British India Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan (Thames & Hudson, 1988) We have seen them in black-and-white photographs of the time: women in starched gowns and broad-brimmed hats taking tea on manicured lawns, a liveried Indian servant inevitably…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22800"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5818"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22800"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22804,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22800\/revisions\/22804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}