> unironically, what did he mean by this? i know nothing about kipling, but he seems more respected by modern literary types than i'd expect a racist to be. what he meant was,   it was written in 1917 in regards to the atrocities of ww1, by europeans. kipling was extremely well-travelled, but also very pro-empire. he represents the side of the british empire that produced charity and worked to uplift people (in contrast,s someone like orwell who lived in the more harsh and oppressive side of the empire would represent the more critical side of it. see his brilliant essay "shooting an elephant" for that side of things.) kipling was one of the true geniuses of history and deserves every bit of respect that he gets. but, the modern extremists interpreting his works as racist are simply wrong. kipling love britain, he was extremely pro-empire, but he was also worldwise and studied abroad a lot.
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