1940 printing. no dustjacket. cover pages and page end foxing. cover rub marks, spots, and scratches. age marks on pages and some bunching at spine. map laid in.

The establishment of British dominion in India has no parallel in the history of the world. The great Empires of ancient and modern times have been built up by conquests, successively consolidated and carried out overland from the source of central power. British rule in India has been won by sea, and its growth from the period of maritime exploration leading to small settlements on the coastline. It was inevitable that dominion must pass to the Power which could assert and maintain navel supremacy. Portugal, Spain, Holland, and France had all contended for mastery and the decision was reached in a long series of Western wars by sea and land. Bengal had been ruled for centuries by foreigners but never before had the gate of this region been held by a Power which came by and drew its resources  by sea. The establishment of Pax Britannica throughout India was accomplished mainly by Indian soldiers trained by British officers and supported by small bodies of European troops. The large armies  formerly maintained by the Indian Princes have dwindled as the country became settled; but twenty-five Native States now provide contingents of Imperial Service Troops or Transport Corps well armed and equipped, and generously placed at the disposal of Government by their Rulers whenever needed.