Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century, E. M. Forster’s sweeping tale of prejudice and racial tension is set in colonial India at the turn of the century. As the Indian independence movement is gaining momentum but while the country is still under the rule of the British Raj, Dr. Aziz, a young Indian Muslim physician, befriends several English tourists in spite of expressions of caution from his Indian friends. What begins as an unexceptional but well-meaning sightseeing outing to a famous cave erupts into a misunderstanding with devastating consequences.
This edition includes commentary by J. B. Priestly and a biographical timeline of E. M. Forster’s life and work.
E. M. Forster (1879–1970) was an English fiction writer, essayist, biographer, and travel writer whose most popular novels include A Room with a View, Howards End, and A Passage to India. Before his death in 1970 he was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature twenty times in fifteen separate years.
J. B. Priestly (1894–1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster, and social commentator. His best-known play, An Inspector Calls, is considered a classic of mid-twentieth-century English theatre. It was adapted for film in 1954.
“Because of the reputation the novel has acquired as a classic since its publication in 1924, one tends to forget what a smashingly good story it is.”
—The New York Times
“Forster’s book is not about India alone; it is about all of human life.”
—Lionel Trilling
