If: The Untold Story of Kipling's American Years

Range. I never paid much attention to Rudyard Kipling’s writing, and I securely locked him into a box labeled irrelevant old white imperialists. Thanks to an interesting book titled, If: The Untold Story of Kipling’s American Years, by literature scholar Christopher Benfey, I know more about Kipling and think of him more highly. I had been clueless about Kipling’s time living in the United States, and the relationships he developed in the late 19th and early 20th century with a diverse group of people including Mark Twain, Henry and William James, Teddy Roosevelt and John Hay. While Kipling’s time living in Brattleboro, Vermont was brief, his influence on the United States was more than I expected, as was the influence of the US on him. Readers interested in this time period are those most likely to enjoy this book. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase If from amazon.com.