Chennai: Annals and Antiquities

This is, technically, a reprint of Sir Charles Lawson’s book Memories of Madras published in 1905. But, as the book comes in the category of classics which never get old and outdated, it is, in many ways, more that any new book on the great city of Chennai. It is a treasurer trove of information, literally, on almost every aspect of the great past of the great city. As any work of this nature should go, the book opens with the history of the founding of the city. Then comes its growth – from infacy to youth, and the years beyond that – not old age by any means. It is mostly anecdotal, but anecdotes here are not meant to entertain the reader. These are meant to enrich him with historical knowledge. Even the appendices here are worth a fortune. There is an appendix dealing with the great jewel, Koh-i-noor. Another presents Tipu sultan as seen by the French, and so forth. We have not changed anything in the old text. But the name of the book has been changed – just to make it i