In the Footsteps of Stamford Raffles - Essential Asia

Born on a ship in 1781 and brought up in genteel poverty, Stamford Raffles rose from humble beginnings as an East India Company clerk to become Lieutenant-Governor of Singapore. Commemorated in Westminster Abbey for his `wisdom, vigour and philanthropy' in raising Java `to happiness and prosperity unknown under former rulers,' he died in his 40s in near-poverty in a north London suburb amid endless money squabbles with his former employer. In an engaging voyage of discovery, Nigel Barley travels from Penang to Singapore in search of the various faces of Sir Stamford Raffles - adventurer, reforming colonist and man of empire - and the vibrant melting-pol of people that popular the East Indies of today...