Viceroys: The Creation of the British

by Christopher Lee

Between 1858 and 1947, twenty British men ruled millions of some of the most remarkable people of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.From the Indian Mutiny to the cruel religious partition of India and the newly formed and named Pakistan, the Viceroy had absolute power, more than the monarch who had sent him. Selected from that exclusive class of English, Scottish and Irish breeding, the aristocracy, the Viceroys were plumed, rode elephants, shot tigers. Even their wives stood when they entered the room. Nevertheless, many of them gave everything for India. The first Viceroy, Canning, exhausted by the Mutiny, buried his wife in Calcutta before he left the subcontinent to die shortly afterwards.The average Viceroy lasted five years and was granted an earldom but rarely a sense of triumph. Did these Viceroys behave as badly as twenty-first century moralists would have us believe? When the Raj was over, the legacy of Empire continued, as the new rulers slipped easily into the offices and styles of the British who had gone. Being 'British' was now a caste.Viceroys is the tale of the British Raj, the last fling of British aristocracy. It is the supreme view of the British in India, portraying the sort of people who went out and the sort of people they were on their return. It is the story of utter power and what men did with it. Moreover, it is also the story of how modern British identity was established and in part the answer to how it was that such a small offshore European island people believed themselves to have the right to sit at the highest institutional tables and judge what was right and unacceptable in other nations and institutions.

Genres: History, India, Asia, Nonfiction

418 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2015

About the author

Christopher Lee was a British writer, historian, and broadcaster, best known for creating and writing the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 documentary series This Sceptred Isle. His career spanned journalism, academia, military service, and historical writing.
After an early life at sea, he studied history at London University before joining the BBC as a defence and foreign affairs correspondent, with postings in Moscow and the Middle East. He later transitioned into academia, becoming the first Quatercentenary Fellow in Contemporary History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and conducting research at Birkbeck College. He also served in the Royal Navy's Joint Intelligence Reserve Branch, reaching the rank of captain.
Lee’s This Sceptred Isle, originally broadcast in 1995, chronicled British history from Roman times to the 20th century and was expanded with additional series covering the 20th century and the British Empire. His historical works include 1603, Nelson and Napoleon, and Monarchy, Past, Present… and Future?, as well as an abridgment of Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. He was also a prolific radio playwright, penning over 100 plays and series for BBC Radio 4.
Beyond writing, he served as a defence and foreign affairs adviser to the British Forces Broadcasting Service for 30 years and was involved in policy analysis.
He divided his time between Sussex and Florence, Italy, and was married to portrait painter Fiona Graham-Mackay. Lee passed away in 2021 at the age of 79.

Reviews

[Koit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been a fan of many a history book by Christopher Lee and some of these also touched upon the Raj. Knowing this and knowing that the Indian Empire provided a backstop to much of what Mr Lee has devoted his work towards, I was looking forward to this book in many a way. 

However, what looked like a promising book really failed to deliver -- the cover advertises this as "the supreme view of the British in India" and what we end up with is a series of anecdotes on the various Viceregents. Sure, there is plenty of useful information in this book and I found a lot of it interesting but for the promise on the cover, the book really does not deliver. We hear very few stories of the exuberance that India was meant to be and neither are we really given a political overview of these Viceroys. Rather, for nearly all of them only one or two policies are mentioned, so we mostly get a personal overview, an assessment of their character, but very little idea of what India meant for them or what they tried to do, though the author does try and assess this. 

I am not sure whether the main problem here is the lack of space the author had or something else, but I feel this could have been done a lot better indeed.

This review was originally posted on my blog.

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a view of the Indian Raj from the perspective of the 20 people who ruled India as its viceroys or headmasters ruling over a public school filled with boys, who are kept in check with control syllabus and allowed to indulge in sports. Any recalcitrant boy must be beaten and encouraged to indulge their passion in sports, given prizes and even invited to tea parties. Their (boy princes) former subjects will invariably look for an alternative master, which the British must offer themselves as the only viable alternative.

The British ruled India without much major issues till the Indians became aware of their status. And once they were aware there wasn’t much the British could do to contain them any longer, against brilliant nationalist leaders like Gandhi and Jinnah. The British never had an alternate plan to rule India, especially after 1857 when they started to avoid mingling with the Indians which made it impossible for them to understand their Indian subjects.

The book focuses on personalities rather than events, which makes it a very interesting read indeed.

[Dylan Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the lens I would take or really appreciate most to understand the British Raj, but I respect Lee. He clearly feels there is a story to be told through covering British India by recounting the 20 or so viceroys who ruled it. I felt I was made to understand the Sepoy Mutiny, British imperial strategy, and the divisions between Jinnah and Gandhi and Nehru which precluded peaceful transition to independence.
If I were to wager based on my very limited knowledge of 19th and 20th century India, I would say the British were unhelpful in setting up self-rule for the subcontinent. However it did seem like an impossible task to reconcile the divisions between the princes and the people, the Hindus and the Muslims, and the Sikhs, as well as radicals and royalists within each group. It seemed like Wavell, Mountbatten, and a host of other viceroys with somewhat positive intentions (Lord Ripon, maybe Willingdon) were ultimately never going to be able to achieve the policy aims they wanted. I have grown more and more averse to court history where you learn through the lens of the lives of leaders. I felt throughout this book I would be better served learning more of life under the Raj for everyday Indians, or through economic and political history of the continent through their own leaders rather than just an installed aristocrat.
All this to say, while this book was well researched, it got very repetitive learning about this extraordinarily ordinary caste of individuals.

[Daniel Dykes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Viceroys: The Creation of the British" by Christopher Lee offers a compelling reexamination of the British Raj through the experiences of her viceroys. Lee's narrative is unflinchingly critical, shedding light on the blend of ambition, error, and sometimes deceit that characterised their governance. His portrayal is particularly scathing of the political missteps, from naivety to outright dishonesty, be they that of the viceroys or that of the politically ambitious agitating for independence.

Lee does not hesitate to cast a critical eye towards iconic figures such as Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah, presenting Gandhi in a light that fluctuates between shallowness and fraudulence. The book suggests that the turbulence stirred by local political ambitions worsened under British oversight, culminating in the calamitous partition of India—a legacy of strife that lingers in issues like the Kashmir conflict.

This incisive text balances biographical sketches with an acute analysis of the political conflicts that shaped an empire and its fraught dissolution. Lee's work stands out for its unapologetic scrutiny and the breadth of its historical insight.

[Book Grocer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase Viceroys here for just $10!

Incredibly well researched book about the Viceroys of India and the Indian Empire. Lee writes in a conversational style that will immediately suck you in. History buffs will find it hard to put down, but it is a good read for everyone.

Elisa, Book Grocer

[SAFWAN M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its an interesting documentary sweep of viceroys of India from their creation to their finale. However the author's 'homely' style of writing doesn't lend itself well to historical writing if this genre. In fact its jarring.
More problematical is the many (and I mean many) spelling, syntax and diction errors throughout the book; as if no proof teading had occurred at all prior to publication! Quite disappointing.

[Marja Anderton · Rating 1 out of 5]

This could have been such an interesting book, because the topic of Viceroys has not been researched much recently. However, the book disappoints as it is low on actual facts and high on the author's vague, unfounded theorizing. And, many of the facts that are presented are often wrong, particularly dates. Furthermore, the book is full of linguistic mistakes, which makes the thread of the story difficult to follow at times.

[Kyran Bell]

Interesting book but lost momentum when I had to cancel my Golden Triangle trip. Nuanced ending.

[East West Notes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and an interesting topic, but it's occasionally a confusing and frustrating read because the author jumps around in time. Somebody is mentioned through several chapters and then finally it's explained who he is and where he came from. Or it's mentioned how a man was in grief over his wife passing away and how he then became Viceroy, and then suddenly his wife is mentioned again very much alive, and (after checking Wikipedia) it turns out that this wasn't a second wife, but rather she died much later on the way back from India, not in England before he became Viceroy. A man's career will be explained and then suddenly the story will go back to his boyhood. The book would be five stars if it was just better organised. You do want to keep reading, but it's a bit like trying to get a story from a man at the pub who keeps remembering something from earlier or jumping too far ahead.

[Creeda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now I know why editors are needed!
I ploughed through about 50 pages of this - the worst written book I have ever read!
It reads like random thoughts at the end of a long evening - very elliptical and incoherent. For Instance Charles I in 1516 became the first Spanish monarch - eh? How did this come about - in fact of course he is better known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
This was on page 2 - things did not improve. Although I did try, because I am quite interested in the British Empire in India (having read Inglorious Empire by Shashi Tharoor and having visited the castle owned by Clive of India - don't remember the name).
The whole book seems to be preliminary notes to be written up properly some time....