In this monumental work James Mill exhibited the character, history, religion, arts, literature and the laws of the people of India, together with the physical influences arising out of the climate of the country. He narrated the story of the acquisition by England of its Indian Empire for the first time and brought to bear a vast body of political theory on the delineation of the Hindu civilization, severely criticizing the conduct of those involved in the successive stages of India's conquest and administration. The work itself and Mill's official subsequent connection with India had a profound effect on the whole system of governing that country.
Mill had never been to India, so the editorial involvement of the great Orientalist Horace Hayman Wilson enhances this edition well. He has not only extended the history up to 1835 but added notes gained from his intimate knowledge of India and its languages. Together these two writers have 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.