The first edition of Madras Discovered, I was happy to find, was well received. Besides the favorable comment it got locally, several persons abroad acknowledge its use as a reference book on the early British period in India.

It was all very heartwarming, but though Madras discovered was planned as a historical guide to the city, I had always felt the historical - and the conservation of it - should take precedence over its character as a guidebook. The location and sites were merely standing memorials to the history and legends of Madras.