The Fishing Fleet: Husband-hunting in the Raj by Anne De Courcy soon to be presented for sale on the terrific BookLovers of Bath web site!
Published: London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2012, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Signed by the author on the title page unverified and reflected as such in the lack of premium. 7th impression. Contains: Black & white photographs; Chronological tables [1]; Maps [1];
From the cover: From the late nineteenth century, when the Raj was at its height, many of Britains best and brightest young men went out to India to work as administrators, soldiers and businessmen. Countless young women, suffering at the lack of eligible men in Britain, followed in their wake. This amorphous band was composed of daughters returning after their English education, girls invited to stay with married sisters or friends, and yet others whose declared or undeclared goal was simply to find a husband. They were known as the Fishing Fleet, and this book is their story.
For these young women, often away from home for the first time, one thing they could be sure of was a rollicking good time. By the early twentieth century, a hectic social scene was in place, with dances, parties, amateur theatricals, picnics, tennis tournaments, cinemas, gymkhanas with perhaps a tiger shoot and a glittering dinner at a rajas palace thrown in. And, with men outnumbering women by roughly four to one, romances were conducted at alarming speed and marriages were frequent. But after the honeymoon life often changed dramatically for the Fishing Fleet girls: whisked off to a remote outpost with few other Europeans for company and where constant vigilance was required to guard against disease, it was a far cry from the social whirlwind of their first arrival.
Anne de Courcys sparkling narrative is enriched by a wealth of first-hand sources unpublished memoirs, letters and diaries -which bring this forgotten era vividly to life.
Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. A little rubbing to the edges of the dust wrapper. Leans slightly. Text complete, clean and tight.
Red boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. [IX] 335 pages. Index. Bibliography. 9½” x 6¼”.
Of course, if you don’t like this one, may I entice you with something lovely from my Social History catalogue?
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- the fishing fleet husband hunting in the raj anne de courcy weidenfeld nicolson 9780297863823
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- the fishing fleet husband hunting in the raj anne de courcy weidenfeld nicolson 9780297863823 b
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