Born in Kanpur in the last years of the British Raj, Charles Allen’s family’s association with India dates back to the battle of Seringapatam in 1799. His great-grandfather brought the young Rudyard Kipling out to work on his newspaper, the Civil and Military Gazette. Mr Allen is a traveller, writer and broadcaster, specializing in India and the Far East. He is the author of Plain Tales of the Raj and Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling 1865–1900.