Under the Deodars

is a disturbing, uncomfortable, and unsettling read - as Kipling himself said, 'it deals with things that are not pretty and ugliness can hurt'. For here, Kipling takes as his subject matter the life of Englishmen and women in the Indian Subcontinent and explores the ugly truth of what went on beneath the appealing 'froth' of club life.

Instantly rejected by many as being too harsh and too critical, 'Under the Deodars' is in fact a brilliant portrait of Anglo-Indians, and their unforgiving impact upon the provincial society of Shimla.