This is the story of the forgotten Kipling: 'Ruddy' the troubled youth eager to be accepted by Anglo-Indian society but too arrogant for his own good. A boy terrified of heat, darkness, and disease; a teenager who suffered a series of physical and mental breakdowns and turned to opiates for relief. This account of the first part of Ruddy's life, between 1865 and 1900, reveals the true Rudyard Kipling in all his complexities.

Reprint. Originally published: London: Little, Brown, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 402-414) and index.