been a heavy cigarette smoker throughout his life—at some points smoking fifty a day—although he quit the habit in 1936 after an illness. Ellis described Mundy as "a strange, enigmatic personality", noting that in early life he had been described as "a wastrel, confidence-trickster, barefaced liar and a womanizer" but that in later life he had changed his "philosophical approach to life ... and become better for it". Mundy was fascinated by mysticism, and explored various religions throughout his life. After a brief involvement in Christian Science, he joined the Theosophical movement and also became very interested in Buddhism. Taves stated that through his literature, Mundy was "engaged in a lifelong discourse on philosophy and religion", including Eastern ideas on subjects like karma and reincarnation which would later be popularised by the New Age Movement. Mundy also had strong political views, expressing contempt for the British establishment and promoting an egalitarian ethos, although not so far as to become a socialist. He had been a supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal although in the final years of his life became more politically conservative. The key political issue that he confronted in his work was colonialism, and he opposed imperialism regardless of the country committing it; his work contains negative portrayals of imperialistic activity by both contemporary nation-states like Britain, Russia, and Japan, as well as by the ancient Roman Empire. In keeping with his critical attitude toward the British Empire, Mundy expressed support for Indian independence. Ellis claimed that unlike many of his contemporaries, Mundy's work has not been accused of adopting a racialist attitude toward non-caucasian peoples. However, Taves believed that Mundy's depictions of indigenous Africans in The Ivory Tail were "hardly free of racism" from a contemporary perspective, but that they nevertheless were "certainly enlightened" for his time, adding that Mundy "unquestionably respected black humanity" and abhorred white supremacism. Mundy believed in the equality of men and women. Biographer Brian Taves felt that Mundy exhibited feminist sympathies in his work, suggesting that Yasmini, the strong, independent Hindu character that he developed in 1914, was clear evidence of this. He further added that throughout the series, female characters are frequently "the leading players in his stories, ambitious, likeable, out-thinking and dominating men," with these female depictions typically being "believable [and] multi-dimensional". Reception and legacy Over the course of his career, Mundy produced 47 novels, 130 novelettes and