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Kim is an Irish orphan growing up wild on the streets of Lahore, who speaks Hindustani better than English and is known as the Little Friend of all the…
Kim is an Irish orphan growing up wild on the streets of Lahore, who speaks Hindustani better than English and is known as the Little Friend of all the World. He becomes the disciple of an old Tibetan lama searching for a sacred river, and as they travel the Grand Trunk Road together, Kim is recruited into the secret world of British intelligence, the Great Game.
Context and significance
Published in 1901, Kim is full of the colours, crowds and religions of India, and it is Kipling's finest novel, though it reflects the outlook of the empire. The friendship between the boy and the lama gives it a warmth unique in his work. For his animal tales, see The Jungle Book.
About the author
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was born in Bombay, sent to England at five to an unhappy foster home, and returned to India at sixteen to work as a journalist in Lahore. His stories of Anglo-Indian life made him famous in London in his twenties.
The Jungle Book, written in Vermont, Kim and Just So Stories became classics, and in 1907 he became the first English-language writer to win the Nobel Prize. His poem 'If—' is still widely quoted, though his support for empire makes him a controversial figure today. His only son was killed in the First World War.