Stones Of Empire: The Buildings of the Raj

by Jan Morris, Simon Winchester (Photographer)

No empire in history built so variously as the British empire in India. The buildings there attest to the richness of an imperial presence that lasted--from the first trading settlement to the end of the Raj--some three hundred years. The attitude of the British to India was compounded partly
of arrogance, but partly also of homesickness, and it shows in their constructions. Georgian terraces were adapted to tropical conditions, Victorian railway stations were elaborately orientalized, seaside villas were adjusted to suit Himalayan conditions, and everywhere the fundamental ambivalence
of the British empire, a baffling mixture of good and evil, was mirrored in the imperial architecture.

This book, now reissued with an introduction by Simon Winchester, was the first to describe the whole range of British constructions in India. The text and photographs illustrate these buildings not simply as physical objects, but as reflections of an empire's mingled emotions. Stones of Empire
charts an enterprise in architecture, engineering, and social adaptation unique in human history.

Genres: History, India, Travel, Asia

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Jan Morris was a British historian, author and travel writer. Morris was educated at Lancing College, West Sussex, and Christ Church, Oxford, but is Welsh by heritage and adoption. Before 1970 Morris published under her assigned birth name, "James ", and is known particularly for the Pax Britannica trilogy, a history of the British Empire, and for portraits of cities, notably Oxford, Venice, Trieste, Hong Kong, and New York City, and also wrote about Wales, Spanish history, and culture.

In 1949 Jan Morris married Elizabeth Tuckniss, the daughter of a tea planter. Morris and Tuckniss had five children together, including the poet and musician Twm Morys. One of their children died in infancy. As Morris documented in her memoir Conundrum, she began taking oestrogens to feminise her body in 1964. In 1972, she had sex reassignment surgery in Morocco. Sex reassignment surgeon Georges Burou did the surgery, since doctors in Britain refused to allow the procedure unless Morris and Tuckniss divorced, something Morris was not prepared to do at the time. They divorced later, but remained together and later got a civil union. On May, 14th, 2008, Morris and Tuckniss remarried each other. Morris lived mostly in Wales, where her parents were from.

Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book very interesting especially since I lived in Mumbai, India for three years. While the main purpose of the Spanish Empire was to evangelize and they settled in Latin America before the English arrived in England the authors seem to ignore everything that is not part of the anglo speaking world. Language Spanish is the official language of 20 countries. Mexico City and Lima were cities in the metropolitan sense before anything equivalent existed in the United States, Mexico had the first printing press on the continent, the first university, and the oldest hospital on the entire American Continent was founded by Cortez in the heart of Mexico City and, to date has never stopped being a hospital. Mexico City was called the City of Palaces by an English traveller Charles Latrobe who published his impressions in his book, practically impossible to find The Rambler. Also while the Americans call their country America, I think that historians and professors should remember that America is a continent that extends from Alaska to the point of Argentina and Chile. Aside these minor comments I enjoyed the book.

[Brian Frederick Jerome Eadon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I found Jan Morris' writing very interesting and easy to read. I liked the way the book was laid out and the order of the subjects covered. The chapter summarising the layout of the big Imperial cities, I enjoyed particularly. I also welcomed and agreed with many of her comments contrasting the splendours of the Raj with the housing and conditions of ordinary Indians and sympathised with the plight of the people. I loved the photographs and indeed searched for others where a building was mentioned but not illustrated. I read the book as it was one of the reference sources for a course I did online about the architecture of Brtish India. I couldn't put the book down, and am now looking to read more Jan Morris books, and searching for a similar book about buildings, monuments, places of worship and housing designed and built by the people of India. Anyone know of one?

[Rhonda Hankins]

Jan Morris books always offer an in-depth analysis of the topic and this one is no exception.

Though I love her works, I find I spend more time looking words up in a dictionary than usual and these books turn into vocab-building exercises for me . . . not a bad thing but it takes me a while to get through them.

[David Bisset · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written account of Imperial buildings in India. Jan Morris possesses a fine architectural sense: and the text is an impressive study of colonialism. The photographs are excellent. The book is imbued with a bitter-sweet nostalgia.

[jp faou · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cruel era, but beautiful and so nostalgic

[Regine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating for Jan Morris's precise ironies and perceptive wit on the architectural heritage of empire. To be sipped, not gulped.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book looks in detail at the architecture of India under the British Raj. Quite interesting.

[PJ Ebbrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jan Morris prose is so simple but brilliant and effortless read. She covers the building of British India and how they affect the culture and society.

[Paul C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a combination of words and pictures - my advice is that the small pocket paperback format is not up to the job; instead look for the large format hardback editions to best enjoy reading it.

As a very individual view of some buildings photographed on one visit, this book is a good read - but it doesn't cover its stated subject; for that it is a let-down. The problem with the contents of the book is its concentration on large official "statement" buildings - yet as iconic a legacy are the bungalows, post-offices, schools and colleges, dak-bungalows, country railway stations, canals, bridges, regimental HQs in the hills, public libraries, shopping streets, parish churches and social clubs. For those topics - you need a very different book.

My second critical comment is that the photographer didn't seem to have been given the time to work on the subject - just look at what other photographers achieved with a similar brief; for example IN THE SHADOW OF THE RAJ by Derry Moore.

So given a very narrow coverage of the title, and the weakness of the photographs, this has to be a 3-star book only. This is a shame - beacuse it is a 5-star topic! I am hoping that other GOODREADERS will be posting ideas of other books on the topic to be reading.

Best wishes to you all - Paul C

[Michael Heath-Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book looking at the legacy of the British Raj in India.