Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant

A critically-lauded history unearthing for the first time details about the close relationship between the Empress of India and a young Indian Muslim.Soon to be a major Hollywood motion picture directed by Oscar-winner Stephen Frears, starring Oscar-winner Judi Dench.An utterly compelling, racy account that brings to life the inner workings of the British Raj.Shrabani Basu is a bestselling historian and journalist. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed For King and Another Country: Indian Soldiers on the Western Front and the founder of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust.Abdul Karim was 24 years old when he was dispatched from Agra to serve 68-year-old Queen Victoria as an attendant. The tall and handsome Indian Muslim didn't speak a word of English, nor the Empress of India any Urdu. What followed was a relationship of such intimacy and tenderness that the British establishment tried their hardest to destroy all evidence of it. In Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant historian Shrabani Basu unearths a story that shows a new side to Victoria and places a young Indian at the heart of the Empire as her greatest influence.A history of the unlikely relationship between the 68-year-old Queen Victoria and her 24-year-old Indian attendant Abdul Karim.A book so startling that it changes your view of the world. One of the great love stories of all time.A most unusual friendship, one that, however divisive it had been, had brought comfort to a lonely Queen in the twilight years of her reign.Racy and well-researchedShrabani Basu has written a charming, lively and rigorous narrative of the complex relationship between a slightly dotty Queen and a slippery Indian from AgraA fascinating book, full of colourful details and Shakespearean characters...Shrabani Basu does not just write biographies, she creates dramaA charming tale which should have been told beforeIf this had been the plot of a novel, it would have been dismissed as foolishly far-fetched. But Victoria & Abdul is fact rather than fiction and there lies its powerA masterfully told story that is a mélange of history, drama and fantasy