James Mill's monumental work depicts the character, history, religion, arts, literature and laws of the people of India, together with the physical influences arising out of the climate of the country. Mill was the first to tell the story of England' s acquisition of its Indian Empire, the work itself and Mill's official subsequent connection with India had a profound effect on the whole system of governing that country. Enhancing this edition is the editorial involvement of the great Orientalist Horace Hayman Wilson, who extended the history up to 1835 and added notes derived from his intimate knowledge of India and its languages. Together these two writers produced one of the great history books of the last century, of interest to social and political historians of the British Empire and general historians alike.