Few people are aware that, throughout the British raj, France managed to retain a foothold in parts of India. French India survived for a full fifteen years after the Union Jack was lowered in Delhi, and as a result of French colonization, there remain today, scattered throughout the Union Territory of Pondicherry, thousands of ethnic Indians who still possess French citizenship.

The ensuing complications run the gamut from education to economics, from nationality to neocolonialism, from politics to procreation.

In this first book to explore the modern-day legacy of French colonialism in India, Miles takes a unique look at one of the country's most fascinating political subcultures. He comes to the unorthodox conclusion that a defective process of decolonization, as was France's in India, can create a countercolonial relationship that inordinately benefits the former colonized vis-a-vis the former colonizers, with problematic consequences for both.