A generation that reads Kipling too little may well find the way back to aim end all the riches he offers in reading this full-length, readable and enthusiastic biography, written by a man who grew up cherishing his boyhood love for Kipling. Now with access to papers hitherto unused, this biography rounds out a life-sized portrait of happy early years in India, of the schooling in England that left its scars- but left too Stalky & Co. one of the great school stories of all time; the later years as reporter in England and back in India- years which gave us most of Kipling's short stories. Many of his books had roots in his own life, reading this biography will be an interesting parallel to get acquainted with Kipling's work. A more penetrating study may well still emerge, but this is sound biography for most readers.