Kipling's Kim recounts the story of a young person's growth to maturity.

Through a series of adventures in India, the young Irish orphan Kim develops an enlightened understanding of himself and his world. The book also depicts the full religious development of an old man, a Buddhist lama. The close relationship between Kim and the lama shows how a young person's growth can be influenced by the wisdom of an older person. But Kim is also an adventure story with an exciting plot involving spies and war, mystery and intrigue. The narrative sweeps the reader into Kim's adventures as he lives by his wits in a land of warring cultures.

Kim also has a historical dimension.

Kipling vividly presents the diversity of Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, and Christian cultures in British India. He also shows the geographical significance of Afghanistan to Russia. In the course of the story the...