Book cover for Letters from India

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Emily Eden's childhood prepared her well for her role as companion to her brother, the Governor-General of India. Outwardly all that a minor aristocrat should be, the observant and sharp-tongued Eden (1797–1869) never censored her letters for the sake of diplomacy. This two-volume collection of letters, edited by her niece Eleanor Eden, was published posthumously in 1872 after the success of her 1866 collection, Up the Country (also reissued in this series). In Volume 2, which also contains several letters from Emily's sister Frances (1801–49), the round of engagements, days in an opulent houseboat, and biting observations on Anglo-Indian society, continue, but the generally cheerful tone begins to darken: 'It is very odd that no letters whatever have come from Cabul for three weeks, but the reports are all favourable' she notes, at the outset of the disastrous Anglo-Afghan War, which led to her brother's dismissal from India.
  • ISBN13 9781108075817
  • Publish Date 21 August 2014 (first published 30 March 2012)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Out of Print 13 June 2021
  • Publish Country GB
  • Imprint Cambridge University Press
  • Format Paperback (US Trade)
  • Pages 308
  • Language English