Hicky’s Bengal Gazette is a work of non fiction set in 18th century Calcutta, the center of British strength in India. His story focuses on three main characters: the journalist, James Augustus Hicky, the missionary, Johann Zacharias Kiernander, and the Governor General, Warren Hastings. In a time of great change in India, Hicky published a newspaper to expose corruption in the East India Company and embezzlement in the Christian Church. But he faced the wrath of a Governor General eager to stamp down on dissent, and the divine retribution of a missionary eager to prove he had stolen nothing from his charity for orphaned children. Up against both the Church and State, Hicky fought valiantly for the freedom of the press. Based on years of archival research, Andrew Otis is telling this story in its entirety for the first time, using previously untouched primary sources from India, Germany and the UK. Not only is the story a microcosm of global affairs and colonialism, but it is a tangible reminder of the importance of freedom of expression through culture and time. Andrew hopes his book’s engaging content will foster cross-cultural communication between the past and the present, and between the diverse histories of India, the UK and the US. Despite the long history of printing in India, Hicky was the first to found a newspaper. He was emblematic of a greater struggle between Enlightenment ideals of inalienable rights, taxation with representation, and the freedom of the press against a monopolistic corporation. It was not his newspaper itself that was important, but the ideas within. The fact that four near complete copies of Hicky’s Bengal Gazette have survived to this day when other newspapers of his time often exist in fragments, if at all, is a testament to how important his paper was. He became part of India. His children grew and died in India. His legacy remains.

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