The Young Cadet by Barbara Hofland
Price: $1.95
ePublished by
August 2025
Originally published 1836
Fiction, Christian, young adult
Author: Barbara Hofland
ePublished by
August 2025
Originally published 1836
Fiction, Christian, young adult
Author: Barbara Hofland
The story of The Young Cadet; or, Henry Delamere’s Voyage to India, his Travels in Hindostan; with the Wonders of Elora is about a teenage boy sent off to the Far East as a cadet working for the East India Company, and is used as an excuse by the author to describe the scenes and history of India to her presumed audience of young readers in early 19th century England.
There was a push at the time for the English publishing industry to produce educational and Christian books for young readers, the feeling being that knowledgeable, Godly, principled youngsters were necessary to the preservation of the empire.
For modern readers the descriptions she gives of India at the time, and her version of India’s history and England’s incursion into it, are both very interesting. There is little apology for the British Empire’s colonialism in India as might be expected by 21st century readers—in fact, just the opposite: she describes the English incursion into India as beneficial to all parties.
There was a push at the time for the English publishing industry to produce educational and Christian books for young readers, the feeling being that knowledgeable, Godly, principled youngsters were necessary to the preservation of the empire.
For modern readers the descriptions she gives of India at the time, and her version of India’s history and England’s incursion into it, are both very interesting. There is little apology for the British Empire’s colonialism in India as might be expected by 21st century readers—in fact, just the opposite: she describes the English incursion into India as beneficial to all parties.