The fame of E. M. Forster's A Passage to India grows with the passage of time. When it first appeared in 1924, critics everywhere acclaimed it as a brilliant novel which upheld the highest traditions of English fiction. In the intervening fifteen years, it has established itself with the general public as a twentieth-century classic. Its subtle characterizations, its deep understanding of the Eastern mind, and its serene spirit make it a story to be cherished by a world from which all tranquillity [sic] seems to have departed.