In the history of the East India Company and the British Raj, they don’t merit even a footnote. Yet it’s worth wondering if the men who ran the Empire would have lasted three centuries on the subcontinent if they hadn’t found mates who shared their spunk and spirit. In The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj, Anne de Courcy tries to do the right thing by the British women who made India their home with fortitude and grace. At the end of it, however, the reader may find themselves agreeing with the oversight, instead of questioning it.