Hey this is probably an unorthodox request, but do you know any books that capture the "vibe" or "feel" of Victorian-era South Asia (or even Southeast Asia). I have this romanticized image of the age in my mind but I can't define it. I know that living under colonialism was brutal and I'm not trying to downplay that, but there's something relaxing thinking about stuffy soldiers sipping tea in humid officers' clubs in places with names like Rangoon, Ceylon, Bombay, or Shimla. Are there any books that capture that aura?
Imagery that comes to mind: rattan furniture, pith helmets, punkah ceiling fans, steamships and locomotives, Dutch/French/British colonial architecture, opulent hotels (eg Raffles) and railcars, afternoon tea, hill stations, elephant polo, cricket
Possible Examples: Around the World in Eighty Days, Eighty Days (nonfiction about Nellie Bly), Tintin and the Cigars of the Pharaoh
by One-Wallaby-5048