Just when you thought the travel-writing wave was over and the rapid commercialisation of Asian tourism had all but kicked over the traces of a more sedate colonial era, up comes Barbara Crossette with her delightful and thoughtful The Great Hill Stations Of Asia.
The book breathes new life into the travel-writing genre, and indeed into jaded travellers looking to sneak off the beaten path in search of the last few peaceful places left before they, too, succumb to slow death by pollution and overcrowding.
On litters, in sedan-chairs, on ponies, by foot if they were able, Europeans in Asia nearly two centuries ago began to colonise the hills in search of a more hospitable climate - for relaxation, health and sometimes their sanity.
Colonialism came and went. But the hill stations remain as places to relax and escape from the steamy heat of the plains. They are still there, shadows of their former glorious past, but still functioning as retreats worth visiting.
In India, Simla and Darjeeling are almost legendary, but there are others such as Ooty and the Kodaikanal in the south. Sri Lanka had its tea plantations in the hills. Burma had Maymyo and Taungyi. And of course Malaysia had its Maxwell Hill and Cameron Highlands.
Not to be outdone, even the French built hill stations in Vietnam, and the Americans did the same in the Philippines. But the hill station was a peculiarly British thing.