Items related to The Great Hedge Of India
This is the story of a quest, in the author's words 'a ridiculous obsession', sparked off by the chance purchase for £25 in a Charing Cross Road bookshop of some memoirs by a 19th-century British official.
The memoirs referred in passing to a great hedge planted across the Indian sub-continent, manned and cared for by 12,000 men. It stood for more than 50 years and, at its greatest extent, formed part of a barrier 2,500 miles long. One of the largest man-made constructions in human history it appears in no history books and today remains completely forgotten in both Britain and India.
Inspired by the idea of such a gargantuan enterprise and its extraordinary disappearance, Roy Moxham began his researches in the British Library and the India Office Archive. Eventually he set off to India to discover whether it had indeed existed, what its purpose had been and whether any part of it remained.
The memoirs referred in passing to a great hedge that by the 1850s ran for 1,500 miles across India. It was planted as part of a Customs Line established by the East India company which stretched from the Himalayas to Orissa. Manned by 12,000 men to extort the hated Salt Tax,it was one of the greatest constructions in human history, yet it appears in almost no history books and today seems completely forgotten in both Britain and India. Inspired by the idea of such a gargantuan enterprise and its extraordinary disappearance, Roy Moxham began his researches in the British Library and the India Office Archive. Eventually he set off to India to discover whether it had indeed existed, what its purpose had been and whether any part of it remained.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
The Great Hedge of India is a book about an obsession. Roy Moxham, ex-tea planter, ex-gallery owner turned book conservator, was searching among the volumes in a second-hand bookshop on the corner of London's Charing Cross Road when he came across Rambles and Reflections of an Indian Official by Major-General Sir W.H. Sleeman KCB, first published in 1893. Twenty-five pounds secured the item and away he took it, little thinking it would be the beginning of an ongoing fascination with an object few people initially believed existed. Moxham was beguiled by a footnote in the Major-General's book which quoted Lytton Strachey's father, Sir John Strachey. The note said, "To secure the levy of a duty on salt ... there grew up gradually a monstrous system ... A Customs line was established which stretched across the whole of India, which in 1869 extended ... a distance of 2, 300 miles ... It consisted principally of an immense impenetrable hedge".
Review:
Moxham was incredulous: could there really have been a hedge that stretched half the length of one of the world's largest countries? None of the standard histories he had read had mentioned a customs hedge and surely someone would have noted something quite so bizarre? On searching out the source of the quote he found that Strachey had not been misquoted but other references to the customs line were few and far between. His search was on. The book explains Moxham's fascinating and ultimately successful search for (over three years, with three separate trips to India), and fascination with, the hedge. Every other chapter outlines, with an enviable clarity and an always easy, conversational style, the historical context in which the hedge arose. The Great Hedge of India is a gem: a joy to read, entertaining, informative and occasionally angry--Moxham's research led him to discover the reason behind the hedge, a salt tax, was punitive in the extreme. "I was deeply shocked by what I discovered about salt. When I first had the idea of finding the remnants of the Customs Hedge I had imagined the barrier as a piece of British whimsy ... It was a terrible discovery to find that it had been constructed ... so as to totally cut off an affordable supply of an absolute necessity of life". An excellent little book. --Mark Thwaite
The Great Hedge is part history, part detective story, part travel book. Above all, it's a great read. (Mail on Sunday)
Moxham has written a parable at once light-handed and melancholy about the cruelty and folly fo the empire. (Financial Times)
Both scholarly and funny - a rare combination, It surprised me and I hugely enjoyed it. (Eric Newby)
Moxham has pulled out a jewel. (The Times)
Marvellous....Moxham sets out to find the remnants of this qunitessentially English folly, writing an affectionate and scholarly narrative'. (Observer)
Moxham has written a parable at once light-handed and melancholy about the cruelty and folly fo the empire. (Financial Times)
Both scholarly and funny - a rare combination, It surprised me and I hugely enjoyed it. (Eric Newby)
Moxham has pulled out a jewel. (The Times)
Marvellous....Moxham sets out to find the remnants of this qunitessentially English folly, writing an affectionate and scholarly narrative'. (Observer)
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherISIS Large Print Books
- Publication date2001
- ISBN 10 0753156156
- ISBN 13 9780753156155
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages232
- Rating
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