Birds of Passage: Henrietta Clive's Travels in South India 1798-1801

'In 1800 Henrietta Clive, wife of Edward Clive who had been appointed Governor of Madras in 1797, embarked on an 1,100-mile, seven-month journey round southern India with her two daughters and her Italian artist friend, Anna Tonelli ... Her journals and her almost daily letters ... give us a wonderful idea of life in India at the time. She is curious about everything and was a motivated and disciplined amateur in several fields, especially geology and botany... A wonderful record of her time there.' --The Spectator, November 21, 2009

'Henrietta Clive's letters are remarkable on two counts. Firstly, they demonstrate that Jane Austen's contemporaries could be as robust and enterprising as their husbands - in Henrietta's case, considerably more so - and secondly, they direct the spotlight onto the little-visited interior of India at just the moment ... when British rule was being consolidated throughout the subcontinent ... The publisher - Eland - has built up a celebrated list of classic travel books, and this first-time publication is a worthy entrant to that list. Social history and imperial history blend happily with a travel tale of adventure.'
--Country Life, December 16-23, 2009