Two hundred years of shared history had a period of recess, neither country investing actively in building a contemporary relationship. The result: India does not know contemporary Britain and Britain has little idea of how the new India is emerging. The past offers a strong platform for rebuilding a new relationship, but it has to be based on an equal footing, recognizing the cultural nuances and current ambitions of both nations.

Shrabani Basu, who as editor provides the overview that strings together all the essays, is also on the committee of Project 400 that commemorates the arrival of the first Indian in England and the departure from India in 1614 of the first ambassador to the Mughal Court, Sir Thomas Roe. She traces the people to people links over four hundred years that create an overlapping history of the two nations and raised the question how a relationship forged on a common love for cricket, curry, parliamentary democracy and the English language can be taken forward gainfully in the twenty-first century, at a time when both countries face uncomfortable problems as they look into the future.