Travel reading list

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• Moxham, Roy

The great hedge of India. London: Constable, 2001

A brief mention of a hedge over 1,500 miles long inspired the author to embark on a three year quest through archives and by train, tonga and autorickshaw to see if he could discover the reasons for the British creating it and whether even a remnant still survived in India. This is an engaging read with a sobering core; the hedge was constructed to prevent the smuggling of salt, that basic necessity of life, and to ensure the hugely profitable collection of the Salt Tax. This should be essential reading for researchers with an ancestor who was a Preventative Officer or worked in the Excise and Salt Department.