This narrative provides an account of Warren Hastings, the first British governor-general of India. The book looks at his rise from clerk in the East India Company to its highest office in India, his expeditions and achievements, and also at his charge of "high crimes and misdemeanors".

Nothing in the history of empire is stranger than the creation of British rule in India, where a small European island became master of a subcontinent ranging from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas. In the late 18th century the person most responsible for this was Warren Hastings, Britain's first governor-general of India. Jeremy Bernstein brings Hastings's story vividly to life amidst the rise of British power. His impeachment trial, one of the great spectacles of the age, forms the conclusion to this fascinating, unusual, and ultimately powerful narrative. "A riveting book, beautifully researched and narrated....It has opened a whole chapter, many chapters, of social and political history for me."-Oliver Sacks.