What an introduction to life in the Indian States in the C19th and C20th, both before and after Independence. I assure you that you will never look at India in the same way again! Away from the poverty and hardship, this book focuses on the wealthy princes and their families in British India, and the extravagances they took as a matter of course. It really opened my eyes to the vast wealth and privilege of the Princes, and the ways they were treated - and fought back - against the British. Unputdownable!