Two loafers set out to make themselves kings of Kafiristan in Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King”, the first of six stories set in India, Japan, China and beyond. The others include a Japanese tale, R. K. Douglas on a Chinese girl’s examination success, Morley Roberts’s “King Billy of Ballarat” and Netta Syrett’s “Thy Heart’s Desire”.
A compact sampler of late Victorian writing about Asia, which carries the imperial assumptions of its time. Download the free EPUB.