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Certainly, this list will be almost inexhaustible. So I've reduced it to only those charming writers whose novels I have read and enjoyed. Now that's not a whole lot, but they're good! And their very names continue to resonate with the sentiments of a bygone era, of the Raj, British Malaya and empire-building.
SOMERSET MAUGHAM
William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) is one of my absolute favourites.
His short stories on life in Southeast Asia, mainly compiled in The Casuarina Tree and Ah King, were written in the 1920s and 30s, as a result of his travels in Malaya.
Maugham excelled in portraying ordinary common British expatriates in their daily lives, often very mundane, but always with some dark secrets hidden away.
As a result, Maugham was positively not liked by his contemporaries in Malaya, who viewed him as a traitor for not keeping the vulnerabilities and foibles of the colonial society under wraps; many saw his stories as undermining the very fabric of the British Empire.
For more on Maugham and his "mythical Malaya," read on here.
A very enthusiastic collector of Maugham books blogs here.
I own this version of The Casuarina Tree (right). All the six stories are compelling, but especially "The Outstation" (how lonely those English were in their outposts) and "The Letter" (a written note threatens to shatter the myth of the superior white man) are breathtaking.
E.M. FORSTER
I realise that Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) really only wrote one outstanding work on the Raj, but for a critical and incisive dissection of the European colonial society - those mere thousands - who ruled over the teeming humanity of people in the Indian subcontinent, few come close to surpassing his A Passage to India (1924).
The novel's characters may be composite people, but Forster distills so much of the complex and intricate code of conduct for the pukka sahib into the following personalities:
Ronnie Heaslop (earnest official but whose office now dictates his actions)
Adela Quested (Ronnie's fiancee who thirst to see "the real India" provokes a grave crisis for the Raj)
Cyril Fielding (unconventional school master who refuses to submit to the social code)
Aziz (Indian doctor and chief protagonist, whose admiration of the British is shattered due to the crisis)
Elaborately plotted with rich and intense symbolism, Forster's novel is a must-read if one is to comprehend better the mysterious and strange world of the British Raj.
The novel was made into a movie in 1984 by director David Lean.
RUDYARD KIPLING
Kipling's life mirrored that of the empire in which he was so inextricably a part of. Born in 1865 at the height of the Raj, many of his novels, short stories and poems revolve around the general theme of British society in India.
His death in 1936 preceded the impending horror of World War Two and the consequential dismantling of the empire; essentially it would be the unravelling of the world he knew so well and wrote so eloquently about.
The quintessential collection of stories on Kipling's India remains Plain Tales from the Hills.
Read the actual review of it by The Guardian newspaper in 1890.
Other famous Kipling books on the Raj include Kim, a spy story full of intrigue, and The Man Who Would Be King, here made into a movie starring Michael Caine and Sean Connery.
Many of Kipling's tales were set in hill stations such as Simla, where the colonial legacy still lives on today.
Here are several well-rated books on the British in India.
GEORGE ORWELL
Eric Arthur Blair (1903 - 1950), better known as George Orwell, was an English essayist, author and journalist who wrote extensively about politics, social inequalities and the growing menace of authoritarian politics.
Read more about his writings here.
(Left: Orwell in the Police Force, Mandalay, 1921)
Orwell really only wrote sparingly about the empire, but what he did write was very good indeed.
Employed in his younger days as a policeman in the imperial service administering Burma, his experiences there left him deeply aggrieved and disillusioned about colonial life.
The result of this was his marvellous semi-autobiographical account, Burmese Days.
Orwell and Burma is the subject of the book, Finding George Orwell in Burma, by Emma Larkin.
I read this in 2017 and found it a most engaging, delightful and evocative piece of social commentary on life in Burma today as well as the imprint of Orwell's own colonial days there.
Watch how heritage conservationists are trying to keep the buildings in Burma depicted in Burmese Days.
French documentary titled Finding Orwell in Burma.
G.A. HENTY
George Alfred Henty (1832 - 1902) was a prolific English war correspondent and writer of children's adventure storybooks.
He was a strong supporter of the British Empire, although today many of his writings are criticised for promoting xenophobia.
None the less, the virtues espoused by his heroes, such as courage, loyalty, resilience and perseverance, are still extolled today.
I first read Henty in university, starting with his book With Clive in India.
I found this is a musty second-hand bookstore in downtown Vancouver.
GEORGE MACDONALD FRASER
G.M Fraser (1925 - 2008) was a Scottish author who wrote historical novels, non-fiction books and several plays. Fraser is best known and remembered for creating the dashing imperial anti-hero Flashman.
His stories of Flashman are set all over the empire, with the protagonist having the knack of turning up at the wrong place at the wrong time and yet emerging the unsuspecting hero.
I first read Flashman as an undergraduate. Finding the books entertaining, I subsequently collected several copies in the series.
Although MacDonald has been severely criticised for being politically incorrect, his adventure novels remain popular (at least in the UK and Commonwealth) extremely well crafted, funny and strangely poignant of a day and age long gone.
Read Fraser's own explanation for and defence of his controversial novels.
Listen to a narration from the first of the Flashman novels.
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