The Great Hedge of India

by RoyMoxham (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $115.93

• Used

  Hardcover
  2001

  $3.92

  This is the story of the author's ridiculous quest for a legendary hedge planted across the Indian sub-continent and manned and cared for by 12,000 men. The hedge stood for over 50 years and at its greatest extent, formed part of a barrier 2500 miles long. Although it is one of the largest man-made constructions in human-history, the hedge appears in no history books and remains forgotten in both Britain and India. This inspired Roy Moxham to travel to India and investigate whether it had existed, what its purpose had been and whether any part of it had remained. After several years of travel and research, the author finally unravelled the story behind the hedge, its place within commercial enterprise on the part of the Raj and, after much searching, the remnants of this folie de grandeur of imperial Britain. This book provides a view into the motivations and administrations of British Imperial India and in part tells the story of one man's obsession.

• New

  Paperback
  2002

  $11.81

  This is the quest for a lost wonder of the world, in the author's words his 'ridiculous obsession', arose from the chance discovery of some dusty memoirs that told of a mighty hedge spanning the Indian subcontinent in the nineteenth century. The hedge was set in place to allow the collection of the Salt Tax by British customs officers, Inspired by the concept of this amazing living barrier, now forgotten, Roy Moxham set off to find out what has happened to it and whether any remnant existed today. His travels in India, and what he found there, form the basis for this illuminating book. Writer Jan Morris comments, 'At first I thought this remarkable book must be a hoax ...It tells the story of one of the least-known wonders of Queen Victoria's India - a customs barrier 2,300 miles long, most of it made of hedge. It was patrolled by 12,000 men and would have stretched from London to Constantinople, yet few historians mention it and most of us have never heard of it. Could anything be more astonishing?'