Book: The Tiger & The Ruby
Author: Kief Hillsbery
Pages: 288
Read: The paperback edition (pictured above)
Read in: ~5 hours
Plot Summary: In 1841, Nigel Halleck left Britain as a clerk in the East India Company. He served in the colonial administration for eight years before leaving his post, eventually disappearing in the mountain kingdom of Nepal, never to be heard from again.
A century-and-a-half later, Kief Hillsbery, Nigel’s nephew many times removed, sets out to unravel the mystery. Tracing his ancestor’s journey across the subcontinent, his quest takes him from Lahore to Calcutta, and finally to the palaces of Kathmandu. What emerges is an unexpected personal chapter in the history of the British Empire in India.
Things I Liked:
1. This is a very different and interesting non-fiction book about the British rule in India. First, it is written by someone, who saw the British Raj for what it was- a machine to exploit India and enrich Britain- and who tells it like it. Always refreshing when that happens, no? Second, the man at the centre of this story- Nigel Halleck- also saw the East India Company and its rule over India for what it was and was not too enamoured of it. So, a story about a British man, an ex-employee of the East India Company, who didn't quite approve of their thieving, exploitative, violent ways was most interesting to read about!
2. The book follows two journeys- that of the author when he visited India and Nepal in the mid-1970s and of his great-great-grand uncle in the 1840s-50s in India. I liked both journeys and both were so interesting and rich with historical detail. The author visited India and Nepal as a young student in the mid-70s to try and re-trace Nigel's footsteps and find out what became of his ancestor. So, his journey on the Silk Route (by land over Europe as favoured by the "hippies") and the various interesting stops on the way was most interesting. Nigel's time in India and his sojourns in Calcutta, Patna, the North West Frontier Province and the Punjab were the most interesting and richly detailed part of this book, which I really enjoyed.
3. This is a very well researched book! There is a lot of rich historical detail about the British dealings in the Punjab, especially, after the fall of Ranjit Singh and the failed British campaigns in Afghanistan. The author has found out a great deal of information about various East India Company officers and administrators, who worked in these regions and how they administered these areas and the lives of Indians and British people made for interesting reading.
4. The ultimate discovery of what happened to Nigel- why he didn't return to England and chose to live in Nepal, his life in Nepal etc.- was also very unexpected and interesting!
Things I Didn't Like:
1. While I do enjoyed the historical details in this book, there is an over-abundance of detail about random British officers and their mindset and activities, which we could've done without. They didn't really add to the book and were a bit tedious.
Rating: 3.5/5
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