Thomas R. Metcalf, in a review for The Journal of Asian Studies, praised it as "an excellent introduction to one of the most fascinating of India's dynasties", "carefully researched and eminently readable".
[6] Sarah Ansari, writing in Pacific Affairs, called the work a valuable addition to the scholarship on the period, but was occasionally disappointed "that the information being provided does not quite match up to the significance assigned to it".
[8] By then he had also married Paula Richman, a professor specializing in South Asian religions, who had taught at Western Washington University before joining the Oberlin faculty in 1985.
Popular and academic reviewers alike widely praised Fisher's choice of topic and the context he adds to Dean Mahomed's writing.
[19] It was praised by Francis Robinson in The Economic History Review for telling the story of South Asians in Britain well and "not shy[ing] away from some of the difficulties and nuances".
and Chancery 'Lunatic', a biography of colorful character David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, was Fisher's second book to attract wide attention from both the academic and non-academic press.
William Dalrymple, writing in The Observer said it "throws a fascinating light on the degree of hybridity and crosscultural contact possible during the period, as well as the limits that Victorian England eventually imposed on such cultural crossings".
He criticized Fisher's overemphasis on the political narrative – the personalities of rulers and the success or failure of state policies – "while ignoring or giving only passing attention to environmental crises and change.