Emily Eden’s childhood prepared her well for her role as companion to her brother, the Governor-General of India. Outwardly all that a minor aristocrat should be, the observant and sharp-tongued Eden (1797-1869) never censored her letters for the sake of diplomacy. This two-volume collection of letters, edited by her niece Eleanor Eden, was published posthumously in 1872 after the success of her 1866 collection, Up the Country (also reissued in this series). Volume 1 begins in England, with an account of preparations for the seven-year stay in India. In spite of suffering from the heat (and from considerable boredom at her formal duties as Lord Auckland’s hostess) she produces a series of light-hearted and engaging letters to friends and family. In Volume 2, which also contains several letters from Emily’s sister Frances (1801-49), the generally cheerful tone begins to darken at the outset of the first Anglo-Afghan War.