This entertaining account of the English in India studies the behavior and the customs of the English from the very first connections down to the end of the eighteenth-century. It attempts to trace and account for the various phases of the development of the social life of the English in eighteenth-century India. The author, the late Dr. Percival Spear (1901-1982) taught history at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and was the author of The Oxford History of Modern India 1740-1975.

The dashing Mr. Hugo Devenish had come to London on an important mission: to prevent his innocent nephew from marrying an unsuitable young heiress. He'd never expected to be trounced upon by the most infamous thief in town! All society was agog at the rash of burglaries being committed by the mysterious Chinaman, but Hugo's attention was diverted once he was introduced to his nephew's heiress, the intriguing Miss Kit Singleton. Hugo found himself utterly enchanted. But her dubious background gave rise to the suspicion that Miss Singleton was somehow connected to the notorious thief. And Hugo could only hope to uncover Kit's many secrets, before the winsome beauty managed to steal his heart!