Most Victorian Age games give a paragraph or two about India, which is too bad really. Victoria herself was known as the "Empress of India".

A good overview of the British involvement in India is given. Again, this is not a textbook, but a game book. There are plenty of places to get more detail, but I think what is here is a great start.

Since so much of the British involvement in India was political and military, overviews of the Government and Military, both in England and India is also given.

I like the authentic maps.

In an interesting addition, several Esoteric Societies are included. Obviously due to their ties with anything "Oriental".

A GM's section on running a campaign in India is presented covering Fantasy, Horror, Occult and Engine based game.

We don't get into any d20 specific information till about 46 pages into the book (almost 3/4ths through the book). d20 specific info includes a section on creatures (wish there more, but this is good), weapons and feats.

The book ends with a set of reference books and films.

All in all I thought this was a great book for any Victorian-era game. I would love to see more, but I think the book did what is set out to do.

All the Imperial Age books are all well written and features art from the age, either public domain art and paintings as well as some original art. In all cases the art is very evocative of the time and very well done.

The books are all easy to read, with clean layout and font sizes. They can be printed with ease without killing your printer cartridge.

I was disappointed to discover that the product description had been deceptive, and that the "Constable's Hand Atlas of India", rather than being "reprinted in full" as advertised, was only briefly excerpted here.

I later learned that the actual "complete guide" (with 60 pages of maps) is available as a free PDF download from Google Books at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=-kAuAAAAYAAJ

This is not to discount all the other useful and interesting information in the supplement. But the real-world Atlas had been the main draw for me, and this left a bitter taste.

I concur with the previous reviewers points, except I'm not so much wed on the insistence on a Kipling reference. The man was after all, a bloody racist, or should I say "Imperialist." I have rated this pdf with four stars because it's the best attempt at reflecting India in an RPG setting I've encountered, but I Adamant has not delved deep enough into the nuances of Sanatana Dharma and the larger culture surrounding it.

This is the first setting book for the Imperial Age line, and a good choice. Its importance to the world of the setting and the literature that makes it endure cannot be overstated. Succinct yet useful sections on history, society and geography come first, along with a timeline and glossary for reference. These are followed by story and campaign ideas. There are some sample characters (all using regular d20 Modern classes with some suggestions for other products by Adamant) as well as Indian monsters and stats for a few English firearms and native melee weapons and a handful of feats. The best thing about this book is the author's care in allowing room for both realistic and fantasy-themed campaigns - for example, a snake charmer in a world with FX has a few levels of Wildlord. The same goes for story hooks and campaign styles, which range from completely mundane to full fantasy.

It is written primarily from the point of view of English characters, so players looking to make native characters won't find as much to use. Also, a good deal of the material is factual without much thought to practical gaming application. With the book priced as high as it is, containing so much material accessible for free (including 15 pages of maps from an old atlas which is now in the public domain) is a negative in my eyes. Oddly missing from the bibliography is any reference to Kipling, especially since Nemo himself appears in the book. There is certainly room for others alongside him: Kimball O'Hara, for instance, Peachy Carnahan or Ashton Pelham-Martyn from Kaye's The Far Pavilions - a smashing PC if there ever was one.