Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler: A Master Governor in British India (18901928) (Paperback)

Michael Fenwick Macnamara

ISBN 10: 1803746580 / ISBN 13: 9781803746586

Published by Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, Oxford, 2024

Paperback. The British Indian Civil Service was a small elite, which administered and governed a vast population. From their number were drawn the Governors of the various provinces. Relatively little work has been completed to explore the role these officials had in maintaining the British Indian Empire. Butler, in particular rose through the ranks of the ICS rapidly, becoming the second youngest to be promoted as Foreign Secretary and the youngest to be appointed a Governor. He was mooted as Viceroy. This book is drawn from Butlers papers, held in the British Library, which have been edited to provide a chronological history of Butlers personal life and of his exceptional official career. We are thus enabled to explore, not only his life in India at the personal level but to assess his input into British policy making across a wide spectrum. Most important areas include Land Settlement, Famine Relief, Foreign Policy, including towards the Princely States, Infrastructure, Industry, Agriculture, Education, Sanitation, and in response to Indian/Burmese Nationalism. An analysis of British intentions towards India is thus available. No similar or biographical work with respect to Butler has been completed. A chronological account of the life and career of Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler, who rose to be British Indias Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh and of Burma. The work also serves as a means to assess British intentions towards India at a critical time with the brewing of Indian nationalism. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781803746586

Synopsis:

The British Indian Civil Service was a small elite, which administered and governed a vast population. From their number were drawn the Governors of the various provinces. Relatively little work has been completed to explore the role these officials had in maintaining the British Indian Empire. Butler, in particular rose through the ranks of the ICS rapidly, becoming the second youngest to be promoted as Foreign Secretary and the youngest to be appointed a Governor. He was mooted as Viceroy. This book is drawn from Butler’s papers, held in the British Library, which have been edited to provide a chronological history of Butler’s personal life and of his exceptional official career. We are thus enabled to explore, not only his life in India at the personal level but to assess his input into British policy making across a wide spectrum. Most important areas include Land Settlement, Famine Relief, Foreign Policy, including towards the Princely States, Infrastructure, Industry, Agriculture, Education, Sanitation, and in response to Indian/Burmese Nationalism. An analysis of British intentions towards India is thus available. No similar or biographical work with respect to Butler has been completed.

About the Author:

Michael Fenwick Macnamara retired as a senior official from the Australian Civil Service in 2005 and has since been engaged in the pursuit of British Indian history, with a focus on the senior administrators of the Indian Civil Service.

A PhD in British Indian history, he is a member of the Kipling Society and of the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler: A Master ...
Publisher: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, Oxford
Publication Date: 2024
Binding: Paperback
Condition: new