Anglo-Indian Attitudes: Mind of the Indian Civil Service
(Hardback)
Publishing Details
Anglo-Indian Attitudes: Mind of the Indian Civil Service
By (Author) Clive Dewey
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Hambledon Continuum
1st July 1993
United Kingdom
Classifications
Tertiary Education
Non Fiction
Asian history
Civil service and public sector
Social and cultural history
954.03
Physical Properties
Hardback
328
Width 156mm, Height 234mm
300g
Description
In the years between the Indian Mutiny and Independence in 1947 the Indian Civil Service was the most powerful body of officials in the English-speaking world. About 300,000,000 Indians, a sixth of the human race, were ruled by 1000 Civilians. With Whitehall 8000 miles away and the peasantry content with their decisions, they had the freedom to translate ideas into action. This work explores the use they made of their power by examining the beliefs of two middle-ranking Civilians. It shows, in detail, how they put into practice values which they acquired from their parents, their teachers and contemporary currents of opinion. F.L. Brayne and Sir Malcolm Darling reflected the two faces of British imperialism: the urge to assimilate and the desire for rapprochement. Brayne, a born-again Evangelical, despised Indian culture, thought individual Indians were sunk in sin and dedicated his career to making his peasant subjects industrious and thrifty. Darling, a cultivated humanist, despised his compatriots and thought that Indians were sensitive and imaginative. Brayne and Darling personified two ideologies that pervaded the ICS and shaped British rule in India. This work aims to make a contribution to the history of British India and a telling commentary on contemporary values at home.
Reviews
"Dewey's crispy-written, beautifully-planned and most densely documented book is a serious and wide-ranging work of history, as well as an altogether a compelling read." --Spectator
"This is an outstanding book, profoundly original in subject and research, written with rare elegance of style." --Sunday Telegraph
Author Bio
Clive Dewey's interest in the Anglican clergy grew out of research into the Indian Civil Service: the same families that sent their sons to India sent ordinands into the Church. He is the author of Anglo-Indian Attitudes: The Mind of the Indian Civil Service (Continuum, 2003).
