On the Orient

Travel with Kipling through India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canton (now Guangzhou), Japan, and Burma

Rudyard Kipling spent many years abroad and his relationship with India is explored in several of his works, both fiction and non-fiction. After leaving school, Kipling was sent to Lahore to work at a local newspaper. He would go on, a few years later, to take up a post at the Pioneer in Allahabad. Kipling said that only a few hours after arriving in India "my English years fell away, nor ever, I think, came back in full strength." While working for the Pioneer Kipling wrote a series of sketches about life in India. In 1889, he became the Pioneer's roving correspondent; traveling to Burma, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canton, and Japan. This collection comprises essays from both his sketches of India and the rest of his travels, showcasing his observations, opinions, and itinerary. Although his writings might feature in some places outdated opinions and points of view, his eye for detail, character, and color, along with his masterful style, give these pieces a timeless feel and shed new light on the writings of a writer with which we thought we were familiar.

Nobel Prize winner Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was born in India but came to England as a child. He is perhaps best remembered for his children's books Just So Stories and The Jungle Book, and for his novel Kim.