Originally published in 1912, this book with extensive source footnotes and bibliography follows the evolution and development of roads, rivers, canals, tramways, buses and cycles. The role that the development of transport played in the growth and expansion of trade and industry and on the general economic and social conditions of the country is one of the main issues that is discussed. Other themes which are examined are the electrification of the railways, railways and the state, railway rates and charges and early trading conditions.

In a penetrating account of the evolution of British intelligence gathering in India, C. A. Bayly shows how networks of Indian spies were recruited by the British to secure military, political and social information about their subjects. He also examines the social and intellectual origins of these 'native informants', and considers how the colonial authorities interpreted and often misinterpreted the information they supplied. It was such misunderstandings which ultimately contributed to the failure of the British to anticipate the rebellions of 1857. The author argues, however, that even before this, complex systems of debate and communication were challenging the political and intellectual dominance of the European rulers.

The official monthly record of United States foreign policy.