Noblemen and Kinsmen is a rich and illuminating family history. Preminder Singh Sandhawalia cats his eye over the personalities and life-style of members of his family from various generations, dating back to the seventeenth century and beyond. He introduces us to noblemen in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s court, to conspirators against the British Government in their quixotic attempt to recover the throne of Punjab for their collateral Maharaja Dalip Singh and to the present generation of kinsmen who are judges, soldiers and engineers and also claimants to the ‘Kohinoor’, a priceless 186 carat gem of dazzling beauty. This is the history of a remarkable family recounted in a pithy, engaging and thoroughly readable style. The author’s prose remains sharp and fresh from cover to cover, and his manuscript exudes a powerful and highly infectious energy. The observations, characters and situations portrayed are relayed in vivid detail, so that each moment has a kind of living authenticity. The book’s fluidity and natural tone belie its intricate construction, yet there can be no doubt that Mr. Sandhawalia took a great deal of time selecting and ordering his material with the requirements of the modern reader very much in mind.
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