Nothing in the history of empire is stranger than the creation of British rule in India, where a small European island became master of a subcontinent ranging from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas. In the late 18th century the person most responsible for this was Warren Hastings, Britain's first governor-general of India. Jeremy Bernstein brings Hastings's story vividly to life amidst the rise of British power. His impeachment trial, one of the great...