The Duke of Puddle Dock: Travels in the Footsteps of Stamford Raffles

In this enchanting pastiche of history, biography and travelogue, the British Museum's assistant keeper and director of the Museum of Mankind resurrects the ``real'' Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), founder and British governor of Singapore. Following in Raffles's footsteps, Barley plays the known facts about his life against the contradictory local myths and gossip about him in a witty portrait of a man now known primarily by the name of the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Born poor, Raffles was dubbed ``the Duke'' by an aunt for his elegant airs. From a menial job at the East India Company, he rose to a position that enabled him to help take Java from the cruel rule of the Dutch to the more (controversially) beneficent one of the British. The book is also an entertaining visit with the intrepid author and a host of high and low characters Barley drew into his adventure. (Aug.)