"Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922), renowned for her amazing learning in an age when most Indian women did not even learn to read, became a world-famous social reformer and speaker. When Ramabai's travels brought her to the United States, she decided to record her impressions of America and its citizens to share with her compatriots back home. Presenting in English the full text of Ramabai's well-written and charming work, this volume can be compared with that of Alexis de Tocqueville. In these pages Ramabai describes and assesses American domestic conditions, education, religious life, government, and business. While upholding some aspects of American life, especially the improved status of women, as ideals for her own country, Ramabai also makes insightful criticisms of life in the United States."--Jacket.