Recognised on its first publication in 1920 as a valuable and illuminating study of the beginnings of colonial rule in India, this work gives a comprehensive account of Dupleix's rise to power in Southern India and his consequent rivalry with Clive. The author was for many years' keeper of the records at Madras and delved deeply into the sources there, and in England and France to write what was, and is still, an indispensable contribution to the study of the French and British struggle for predominance in India.