In a city where it has become the norm to demolish gracious old buildings and turn them into shopping malls, the Raj Bhavan serves as a rare example of restoration and conservation. The Government House, as it was originally called, was constructed by Lord Wellesley, and though subsequent residents made additions and alterations, the grand edifice we see today was by and large the handiwork of Lord Curzon — modelled on Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, his ancestral seat. Anirban Mitra’s Raj Bhavan of Kolkata (BR, Rs 1,195) takes us on a journey down its pebble-strewn walks, the grand staircases, banquet hall, ball room, drawing and dining rooms. The photographs were taken in available light with a hand-held Nikon SLR camera, and include glimpses of the quaint “birdcage” lift and the gigantic heraldic horses, restored of late. The book has a foreword by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, a comprehensive introduction by Tapati Guha-Thakurta and a list of the residents of this magnificent building, designed by the British but built with local materials by local masons.