The Cult of Imperial Honor in British India [Paperback]

What was imperial honor and how did it sustain the British Raj? If No man may harm me with impunity was an ancient theme of the European aristocracy, British imperialists of almost all classes in India possessed a similar vision of themselves as overlords belonging to an honorable race, so that ideals of honor condoned and sanctified their rituals, connecting them with status, power, and authority. Honor, most broadly, legitimated imperial rule, since imperialists ostensibly kept India safe from outside threats. Yet at the individual level, honor kept the white herd together, providing the protocols and etiquette for the imperialist, who had to conform to the strict notions of proper and improper behavior in a society that was always obsessed with maintaining its dominance over India and Indians.Examining imperial society through the prism of honor therefore opens up a new methodology for the study of British India.Introduction The Cult and Maintenance of Honor A Middle-Class Method: Building the Steel Frame of the Raj Queen of the Earth: An Empire of Honor The Bungalow: A Clearing in the Jungle

One of the strengths of this book is that it expands the fields of race, gender, and class analysis, with which most new imperial historians preoccupy themselves, to a new category that influenced Britons in India. Another marked strength is the sophisticated development of theory that helps build a base for the argument of the book. This book has an impressive source base that includes several primary sources and oral interviews in addition to major secondary sources. A delight to read. - H-Albion

Patterson s examination of masculinity and male codes of honor (racial, legal, and social) as a central element underpinning the British Raj ads significantly to scholarship on gender and imperial rule, as well as metropolitan Victorian and Edwardian British society. He eloquently unpacks the white man s burden, showing how central maleness waslÃ$