G'day folks, This comment from Professor Alex Kerr, of James Cook University here in Townsville, has just come to hand. Some of you may remember that I mentioned this book some time ago. The book deals with the close relationship between India and Australia since the First Fleet came to Australia. ======================================================================================= I have just finished Colonial Cousins and am writing to congratulate you and Peggy on what will undoubtedly become accepted as the definitive history of the many important links between India and Australia in the nineteenth and twentiethy centuries. You must have done an immense amount of research over the years, as your bibliography would indicate, and I congratulate you on the effort you have both put into the finished work.The detailed list of references and the detailed index have made it very easy for the reader to follow up on any points of further interest. I found the book both informative and absorbing and written in a very readable style. In particular, the anecdotal passages, coming from specific sources in both countries, give such a clear picture of the cultural and social mores and political issues at that time on both sides of the Indian Ocean, and their interaction, that it would be difficult not to appreciate the effect they had on promoting close links and understanding at all levels between the two countries. You say in the title that it is a surprising history and indeed it was surprising to me for I had no idea of the extent of the links you have explored. I wonder how many other Australians are as ignorant as me on this unpublicised part of Australia's history. Hopefully your book will help to address this deficiency. Warm regards to you both, Alex Kerr ======================================================================================== One of the authors of this book, Joyce Westrip, is a long time member of the Raj List. I congratulate her on a fine book about the topic. As the professor writes it "will undoubtedly become accepted as the definitive history of the many important links between India and Australia in the nineteenth and twentiethy centuries. ". ooroo