What do you think?
Rate this book
Empire Made: My Search for an Outlaw Uncle Who Vanished in British India
Lost in time for generations, the story of a 19th-century English gentleman in British India—a family mystery of love found and loyalties abandoned, finally brought to light
In 1841, twenty-year-old Nigel Halleck set out for Calcutta as a clerk in the East India Company. He went on to serve in the colonial administration for eight years before abruptly leaving the company under a cloud and disappearing in the mountain kingdom of Nepal, never to be heard from again. While most traces of his life were destroyed in the bombing of his hometown during World War II, Nigel was never quite forgotten—the myth of the man who headed East would reverberate through generations of his family.
Kief Hillsbery, Nigel’s nephew many times removed, embarked on his own expedition, spending decades researching and traveling through India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal in the footsteps of his long-lost relation. In uncovering the remarkable story of Nigel’s life, Hillsbery beautifully renders a moment in time when the arms of the British Empire extended around the world. Both a powerful history and a personal journey, Empire Made weaves together a clash of civilizations, the quest to discover one’s own identity, and the moving tale of one man against an empire.
In 1841, twenty-year-old Nigel Halleck set out for Calcutta as a clerk in the East India Company. He went on to serve in the colonial administration for eight years before abruptly leaving the company under a cloud and disappearing in the mountain kingdom of Nepal, never to be heard from again. While most traces of his life were destroyed in the bombing of his hometown during World War II, Nigel was never quite forgotten—the myth of the man who headed East would reverberate through generations of his family.
Kief Hillsbery, Nigel’s nephew many times removed, embarked on his own expedition, spending decades researching and traveling through India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal in the footsteps of his long-lost relation. In uncovering the remarkable story of Nigel’s life, Hillsbery beautifully renders a moment in time when the arms of the British Empire extended around the world. Both a powerful history and a personal journey, Empire Made weaves together a clash of civilizations, the quest to discover one’s own identity, and the moving tale of one man against an empire.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published July 25, 2017
21 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
About the author
Kief Hillsbery
5 books8 followersKief Hillsbery is an American writer and Lambda Literary Award nominee.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
June 30, 2017
Writer Kief Hillsbery new book, "Empire Made: My Search for an Outlaw Uncle Who Vanished in British India", is an excellent read...for the right reader. That reader should be interested in Raj India, as well as a search for an ancestral figure who may have thrown off his British garb and "gone native".
Kief Hillsbery - who is British on his mother's side - was interested in the tale of her many-times "great uncle", Nigel Halleck. Halleck went to India in 1841 in the employ of the British East India Company, then in power in most of India. He wrote copious letters home, from which Hillsbery was able discern Halleck's jobs and journeys. Added within the tale of Halleck, Hillsbery intersperses his own fascination with India and his travels, begun when he was a student in the mid-1970's. On that first trip, where Hillsbery traveled through present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, he looked for the spots referred to in Halleck's letters. Some he found; others didn't exist anymore. He was trying, too, to find Halleck's grave site, and cause of death. There had been some speculation that Halleck ended up being eaten by a tiger, after having abandoned his British identity in Nepal.
Hillsbery book's is a superb look at the Raj, with the politics, economics, and societal factors written from primary sources, like "great-uncle" Nigel's letters. Hillsbery's book is eclectic, with topics ranging from personal identity to the sexual habits of male Pashtuns. Make sure you have access to Wiki as you read the book, as you may have questions about people, places, and events.
Kief Hillsbery - who is British on his mother's side - was interested in the tale of her many-times "great uncle", Nigel Halleck. Halleck went to India in 1841 in the employ of the British East India Company, then in power in most of India. He wrote copious letters home, from which Hillsbery was able discern Halleck's jobs and journeys. Added within the tale of Halleck, Hillsbery intersperses his own fascination with India and his travels, begun when he was a student in the mid-1970's. On that first trip, where Hillsbery traveled through present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, he looked for the spots referred to in Halleck's letters. Some he found; others didn't exist anymore. He was trying, too, to find Halleck's grave site, and cause of death. There had been some speculation that Halleck ended up being eaten by a tiger, after having abandoned his British identity in Nepal.
Hillsbery book's is a superb look at the Raj, with the politics, economics, and societal factors written from primary sources, like "great-uncle" Nigel's letters. Hillsbery's book is eclectic, with topics ranging from personal identity to the sexual habits of male Pashtuns. Make sure you have access to Wiki as you read the book, as you may have questions about people, places, and events.
October 6, 2020
~ review copy provided
Adventure, Mystery, and History... what's not to like.
I really enjoyed Hillsbery's book. His writing is so good and so clear, it was a pleasure to tag along as he tried to decipher what happened to that errant British great-great-many-times-removed uncle of his. The one that was born in 1822. The one who went off to India to work for the great East India Company. And the one who gave up a very promi$ing career when he vanished.
Was he murdered by Thugees or eaten by a tiger? As we start we really haven't a clue.
No small part of what made EMPIRE MADE a pleasure was that Hillsbery juxtaposed his Uncle Nigel's history as he moved about the region, with his own person travels as he visited the same locales. Kief visited museums and libraries, monuments and graveyards looking for clues, or at least looking for the dead man's remains.
And our author could do this because many of Nigel's letters home survived the years and remained in his family's keeping. And what can I say, these letters are wonderful preservers of the past. And through them we can see the East as Victoria's countrymen did. The enlightened, and the less enlightened.
And fantastically, Nigel knew important people. Rajah's and dignitaries. Men such the clever and exceptional Lawrence. And because Nigel knew people I got a wonderful history lesson about the struggles of the region. Really, a good deal of Indian, Afghani, Sikh, Nepalese, history is crammed into this book and you'll hardly notice as the whole arm chair adventure is made relevant by the historical background.
A really good read.
Adventure, Mystery, and History... what's not to like.
I really enjoyed Hillsbery's book. His writing is so good and so clear, it was a pleasure to tag along as he tried to decipher what happened to that errant British great-great-many-times-removed uncle of his. The one that was born in 1822. The one who went off to India to work for the great East India Company. And the one who gave up a very promi$ing career when he vanished.
Was he murdered by Thugees or eaten by a tiger? As we start we really haven't a clue.
No small part of what made EMPIRE MADE a pleasure was that Hillsbery juxtaposed his Uncle Nigel's history as he moved about the region, with his own person travels as he visited the same locales. Kief visited museums and libraries, monuments and graveyards looking for clues, or at least looking for the dead man's remains.
And our author could do this because many of Nigel's letters home survived the years and remained in his family's keeping. And what can I say, these letters are wonderful preservers of the past. And through them we can see the East as Victoria's countrymen did. The enlightened, and the less enlightened.
And fantastically, Nigel knew important people. Rajah's and dignitaries. Men such the clever and exceptional Lawrence. And because Nigel knew people I got a wonderful history lesson about the struggles of the region. Really, a good deal of Indian, Afghani, Sikh, Nepalese, history is crammed into this book and you'll hardly notice as the whole arm chair adventure is made relevant by the historical background.
A really good read.
August 7, 2017
Kief Hillsbery's long searcher his ancestor Nigel Halleck, a Victorian man who went to India and never came back. From 1841-1878Nigel lived though the First Afghan War, The Anglo-Sikh Wars and the Indian Mutiny. He was friends with John Nicolson, Henry Lawrence and with various others.
He visited Nepal and Peshawar cataloging many of the customs, and then disappeared somewhere in Nepal.
Had he gone native from his British work as a tax collector? Had he found peace in a war infested part of the globe and live out his life with Maharaja Jang Bahadur Rana? was it true that he was attacked and eaten by a tiger?
Half history book of the Victorian India, half travel book of the author's thirty year search to find the answer filled with interesting stories of Nigel and Kief to keep you reading late into the night.
A well done book.
He visited Nepal and Peshawar cataloging many of the customs, and then disappeared somewhere in Nepal.
Had he gone native from his British work as a tax collector? Had he found peace in a war infested part of the globe and live out his life with Maharaja Jang Bahadur Rana? was it true that he was attacked and eaten by a tiger?
Half history book of the Victorian India, half travel book of the author's thirty year search to find the answer filled with interesting stories of Nigel and Kief to keep you reading late into the night.
A well done book.
November 16, 2017
5 stars for this engrossing combination history/travel/biography.
The framing device is rather familiar--the subtitle says it all.
However, it masks one of the more accessible histories of India under British rule that I've read. While keeping the focus firmly on Uncle Nigel's activities, the author integrates enough historical background to give those activities a firm anchor in time and place.
The modern day search mission is equally engaging; full of family lore and great descriptions of the various sites the author visited in his quest.
The prose flows smoothly, the people (past and present) come alive. I found the book very hard to put down.
The framing device is rather familiar--the subtitle says it all.
However, it masks one of the more accessible histories of India under British rule that I've read. While keeping the focus firmly on Uncle Nigel's activities, the author integrates enough historical background to give those activities a firm anchor in time and place.
The modern day search mission is equally engaging; full of family lore and great descriptions of the various sites the author visited in his quest.
The prose flows smoothly, the people (past and present) come alive. I found the book very hard to put down.
August 30, 2017
Hillsbery undertakes the solving of a family puzzle as a sideline while he pursues a research project in Nepal as part of his undergraduate studies. The mystery is "what happened to (great) Uncle Nigel when he went back to India after home leave?". "Was he really eaten by a tiger?" We don't, in the end, know the answer to the latter question, although a seer weighs in with her conclusion. Hillsbery teases the answer to the former question out of lots of Raj history, which he narrates succinctly and wittily. Along the way we learn that there was a real town on which E. M. Forster based the fictional Chandrapore in A Passage to India. It seems only fitting that it lay on Hilsbery's route to Nepal.
This was not quite 4 stars in my book, because the back and forth between the 1840's story and the late 20th century one was fitful and distracting. But the background story turns out to be a love story (surprise!) and that tips the ratings balance for me. Empire Made has elements of literary impressionism, family history and the cosy mystery and is therefore quite unconventional; perhaps it is the genre abnormality that contributes to the challenge of settling in comfortably with it. If not an easy read, though, it is an intriguing one. I was especially taken with the material on the area that is now Afghanistan.
This was not quite 4 stars in my book, because the back and forth between the 1840's story and the late 20th century one was fitful and distracting. But the background story turns out to be a love story (surprise!) and that tips the ratings balance for me. Empire Made has elements of literary impressionism, family history and the cosy mystery and is therefore quite unconventional; perhaps it is the genre abnormality that contributes to the challenge of settling in comfortably with it. If not an easy read, though, it is an intriguing one. I was especially taken with the material on the area that is now Afghanistan.
September 1, 2017
This book follows a somewhat familiar paradigm: a 20th century would-be explorer following in the long-lost footsteps of a Victorian ancestor, in this case through the jungles of India and the mountainous reaches of the Himalayas. The long-departed ancestor was a functionary of the East India Company and a possible witting or unwitting agent of British imperial designs on South Asia; his distant descendant is an American mountaineer and part-time academic roaming Nepal in the latter stages of the Hippie Trail in the 1970s and onward. Much of the ultimate history of Nigel Halleck is still only speculative, despite the assiduous book research and trekking of the other. While the speculation is intriguing it can hardly be conclusive — and Halleck himself is a tangential although enthralling minor figure in Imperial history. What emerges is far stronger on the strangely symbiotic relations between Imperial functionaries and the local Asian princes and potentates with whom they colluded to rule South Asia for two hundred years, in which Halleck seems to played both a professional and a highly personal role.
September 17, 2017
A surprise hit. I picked up the book just for a quick glance and ended up learning more than I'd ever expected to about the British occupation of India.
February 23, 2018
I think Part three was the most well written part of the entire book, of course parts one and two were well written as well. An excellent book overall, but the third part was exceptional.
February 24, 2018
I was bored through a lot of this read, and the last 75 pages were a struggle to get through. The subject of this book has a lot going for it, some history of the East India Company, mixed with the author's travels in India and Nepal in the 70s and 90s. But it was still a push to finish, I just wasn't interested in Nigel's story and the historical information is presented to the reader in kind of sloppy and random way. Hillsbery doesn't have much information on his lost family member, so you never get a sense of what Nigel is up to. Too much of it all is speculation.
February 19, 2024
It sounded good - the author's search for an 'Outlaw' uncle who disappeared in India during the 1800's. Family secrets and all seemed intriguing. Rumors about the uncle, lots of history about India and various rulers and others, very little about the uncle really and somewhat too much about the author. Quite a bit of speculation. End result that by the conclusion of the book it was not actually worth reading.
March 28, 2020
Enlightening look at a life in Colonial India and an uncle that went missing there. I listened to the audio book and it was very well narrated.
September 28, 2017
Interesting subject matter, but the author has stretched what should be a long essay into a book. The narrative often gets lost in his recounting of the (bloody) regime changes is Nepal and the ins and outs of British rule in India. The errant uncle often seems like an afterthought, playing a mostly minor role in the book.
October 17, 2022
I’m not sure how to begin in my review. I had to make myself finish this book all the while wanting to find out the outcome of Nigel. Kief Hillsbery is probably considered a very good author, after all he reminds us of his duty to write speeches for a university chancellor. I felt through most of the book he was trying to impress the reader with his far superior use of the English language than he was with the crux of his story. I found the book hard to read and somewhat hard to follow. Hillsbery seemed to take the reader on some very circular paths to get where he was going. At times I felt caught up in minutiae that added little to the real story.
I originally picked up the book (luckily at a discounted price) because I have found the English rule and interaction with India very intriguing. While I think this book added to some of that intrigue, I was lost at times and thus it took away from the interest. I would have only rated it a one star, except I was curious enough to slog through to the end.
I originally picked up the book (luckily at a discounted price) because I have found the English rule and interaction with India very intriguing. While I think this book added to some of that intrigue, I was lost at times and thus it took away from the interest. I would have only rated it a one star, except I was curious enough to slog through to the end.
February 4, 2019
This memoir provided a nice warm up for Jan Morris's masterful three volume history of the British Empire which I plan to reread (listen to) next. Kief Hillsbery goes on an historical search for an uncle who left England as a young man to work as a collector for the East India Company. He returned once then disappeared into Nepal never to be heard from again. All indications were that the uncle led a typical life of a Company man, that he had talent and language ability that set him on the fast track in Calcutta. But, he apparently had a tendency to "go native" and preferred a more remote assignment where he met important people who ultimately took him to Nepal in possibly some official function. The author never finds the burial place or details of his ancestor's death but provides a nicely written account of the life of a Company functionary with some interesting details on famous and heroic Englishmen who will be fleshed out in the Jan Morris volumes.
August 11, 2018
3.5 stars ...Enjoyed it, but hard to follow at times with all the different battles, tribes, rulers, beliefs, stories, themes, names, characters and more! I can understand how it reached a boiling point. It was very interesting but left me with many more questions! Colonialism and occupation undertaken by means of operating a “company”?! All from a large empire on a small island off the coast of Europe! (England) And yet some really believed they were helping while others took advantage. Learned plenty and plenty more still to learn! Worth a read if you want a glimpse into that time period of the emerging countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh with Burma, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan all making guest appearances! Did enjoy it just confusing at times!
April 10, 2023
Good read! I found the author and his ancestor/uncle to have lived very parallel lives, the the point that if Kief had fancied himself to be Nigel reincarnated, he'd have had a good argument for it.
He really did a good job of using the fragmentary information he had, especially since the trail he was following was so cold!
Both the author and Nigel his great-uncle followed a similar path in their sexuality too...and it's a very solid explanation for why Nigel never returned to England. In India he had acceptance, and maybe a lifetime love. In England his actions would have been harshly rejected and still illegal I believe.
Bless him, I hope Nigel had happiness in his exotic life.
But my oh my, I hope that ruby brooch wasn't worth the king's ransom I think it might have been!
He really did a good job of using the fragmentary information he had, especially since the trail he was following was so cold!
Both the author and Nigel his great-uncle followed a similar path in their sexuality too...and it's a very solid explanation for why Nigel never returned to England. In India he had acceptance, and maybe a lifetime love. In England his actions would have been harshly rejected and still illegal I believe.
Bless him, I hope Nigel had happiness in his exotic life.
But my oh my, I hope that ruby brooch wasn't worth the king's ransom I think it might have been!
January 9, 2018
I read a fair amount of this eArc from NetGalley. I probably could have gotten through more if the author stuck to one storyline. I was mildly interested in his relative's experiences in India, but I found the interludes where he shares his own experiences in India in the 1970s to be distracting. (At least in the parts I read) None of the more modern stuff includes any information that adds any great depth to the historical story. Instead of adding modern insight onto what happened, it only breaks up the narrative flow. Did not finish on purpose.
October 10, 2017
This book, a chronicle of the author's search to learn what happened to his uncle in 19th Century Asia, had the potential to be a great book of history. Unfotunately, the author's use of fictionalized passages at the beginning of the book, and his visit to a seeress as a means of research made the book uneven. The passages about his travels and his actual historical research were interesting, but the best parts of the book were about his uncle and his uncle's role in the larger British occupation of India as a whole.
August 16, 2018
Fascinating story but not an easy read
It’s a travel documentary of two travelers — Nigel who leaves England in 1850’s to work for the East Indian Company in India and the author (nephew) who attempts to retrace his uncle’s footsteps over a hundred years later.
While telling the personal story, the author provides considerable historical background about the East Indian Company and the British occupation of India. It certainly provides some insights to the turmoil that continues to exist in that area of the world.
It’s a travel documentary of two travelers — Nigel who leaves England in 1850’s to work for the East Indian Company in India and the author (nephew) who attempts to retrace his uncle’s footsteps over a hundred years later.
While telling the personal story, the author provides considerable historical background about the East Indian Company and the British occupation of India. It certainly provides some insights to the turmoil that continues to exist in that area of the world.
September 10, 2017
this is a story that pretty much exactly follows the subtitle - trackign the multi-year search for the long lost relative. The clues are sought and followed but there is definitely some extrapolation - as there is in most family history. Without a journal, when time and history (wars destruction and family loss) make things more distant - it's hard to to really know what happened. Nonetheless, an interesting story of one mans search for family.
December 11, 2017
Irritating writing style pretending that he didn't know things to maintain some sort of narrative tension. It is a fascinating story ruined by a very poor narrative. Also tries to be arch which muddies the water without providing real documentation or actually saying what he means which is that the historical distant relative probably had a long standing homosexual relationship with an Afghani warlord's son. Why not just say so? (Purchased secondhand on Amazon)
April 4, 2019
Initially, I was drawn into this book about Kief Hillsbery's search about what happened to his ancestor who never returned from India. However, the multiple story lines and my lack of background knowledge about the history of India made this a difficult read for me. Maybe I'll try this again in the future once I have more background knowledge of the history of the area, but Hillsbery's writing didn't read in a way that made it easy for me to read without this knowledge.
September 12, 2017
Much slower going than I thought it would be. Description sounded quite interesting as the author searches for what happened to an ancestor who never returned from colonial India/Nepal. Maybe just too much detail of convoluted history of the area but my eyes frequently glazed over. ( library)
March 28, 2021
Beautifully composed and executed! Mixture of travel writing, history, and family memoir. Sometimes, one thread or type is much more engaging than others. This had great balance. And a poem holds a key! Recommended.
August 28, 2017
The author makes up quotes/details from his ancestor without any attempt to document them.
January 26, 2018
This book is a personal memoir of search. A reader would have been helped by maps.
July 5, 2020
Ever had those relatives that just "disappeared" and remain in the family narrative?
This is one of them.
To an entirely new level.
This is one of them.
To an entirely new level.
February 17, 2021
This book was sort of boring, but then again, nonfiction usually isn't my cup of tea..
March 17, 2023
I'm a little dubious on the final chapter, but overall this was an engrossing read with lots of new historical info. Well researched and written.
December 17, 2023
I give this 3.5 or maybe 3.75. It's well-written and holds one's interest. The central mystery in this tale may or may not have been resolved by the end, but I tend to believe it was.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews