Macmillan’s Magazine was a monthly literary magazine, generally regarded as the first shilling periodical in Britain. It was also one of the first periodicals in which authors were expected to sign their names.

Founded in 1859, the magazine was the brainchild of the bookseller Alexander Macmillan, UCL Professor of English David Masson, the lawyer John Ludlow and above all Thomas Hughes, the author of Tom Brown’s Schooldays. Hughes saw the gap in the market for a new thoroughgoing literary magazine, with ‘everyone to sign his own name and no flippancy or abuse allowed.’ Although the four men did not intend Macmillan’s to serve as an organ of Christian Socialism, as a publication it was somewhat imbued with their ethos of service and plain-speaking in matters of social concern.

The magazine is noted for rejecting Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles due to what Mowbray Morris termed excessive ‘succulence’, and also for promoting the work of the young Rudyard Kipling in England, sometimes under the pseudonym ‘Yussuf.’  Other pieces by Indians or about India included stories by Cornelia Sorabji and Flora Annie Steel. From 1883 to 1885 the magazine was edited by John Morley, future Secretary of State for India and co-architect of the Morley-Minto governmental reforms.

The Indian Writing magazine ran irregularly from 1940 to 1945. Ostensibly a literary magazine, Indian Writing was a platform for the radical, anti-colonial, broadly Marxist South Asian activists based in London to articulate their critique of Indo-British relations, alongside their own views on politics and culture, which would have been seen as extremist at the time.

The first issue of Indian Writing was written in 1940 with war ‘an immediate reality’ and the possibility of anti-colonial ‘revolutions’ imminent. Contributions to Indian Writing charted the Cripps mission to India, alongside a critique of the BBC’s Allied War Propaganda. Editors Iqbal Singh and Ahmed Ali forcefully voiced their objection to the use of Indian soldiers as ‘cannon fodder’ and to ‘the spectacle of innocent nations and peoples being dragged into the homicidal delirium of rival imperialist powers’ in the Second World War (Indian Writing 1.2 (1940), p. 68). In this way the magazine revealed the tensions between nationalism, anti-fascism and anti-imperialism of this period. The Book Review section of the Indian Writing magazine, served as a key space for South Asian writers like Ahmed Ali and Mulk Raj Anand to comment on each other’s novels as well as on other books on South Asia. This coverage was particularly important in the context of a broader, insular reviewing culture notably the resistance these South Asian fictional texts met from the more conservative, parochial elements of the British literary establishment, regarding their politics and use of Indian English.

The Left Review was first published in October 1934 from Collet’s Bookshop in Charing Cross Road London, the same address as the Writers’ International (British Section). The journal published a selection of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction. It was seen as providing a much needed left wing perspective and filled a gap in the market of literary magazines. It also incorporated regular reports and updates from the British Section of the Writers’ International. The journal was committed to the fight against Fascism and Imperialism and sought to expose so-called hidden forms of war against the peoples of India, Ireland, Africa and China. It published many British figures with connections to South Asians in Britain. The journal sought to foster the development in England of a literature of the struggle for socialism and to publish work that reflected working life in contemporary England.

On 13 April 1935 it held a conference of contributors at Conway Hall, London, to determine the future direction of the Left Review. The journal was committed to highlighting the propaganda potential of literature. Furthermore, it wanted to raise awareness that propaganda is also literature to show how it can be used best as a tool for educating the masses.

The journal reviewed Indian writers such as Mulk Raj Anand, Iqbal Singh and Jawaharlal Nehru. Anand also published several short stories and an essay on New Indian Literature in the journal. Other Indian writers soon followed. The journal also published on Nehru’s campaign for Indian liberties and short stories by Alagu Subramaniam (‘This time the fan’), Sarat Chandra Chatterjee (‘The Drought’, in a translation by Sasadhar Sinha) and Ahmed Ali (‘Mr. Shamsul Hasan’), as well as poetry by Fredoon Kabraji (‘The Patriots’).

The journal ceased publication in May 1938.

The London Mercury was a monthly magazine published by Field Press Ltd.  It was published first in 1919, one year after the end of the First World War. It sought to fill a gap in the market of literary magazines. According to its founding editor it was unique among other literary journals as it combined the publication of creative writing, reviews of the contemporary literary output, publishing poetry, prose writing and full-length literary essays, and critical surveys of books. Its mission was to foster the teaching of English and the appreciation of the arts.

Especially after Rolfe Arnold Scott-James took over as editor in 1934, the magazine increasingly featured short stories and poetry by Indian writers. It also included survey articles and reviews by Indian writers on topics such as Indian art and Indian literature. Reviews of books on India were also increasingly published by the journal. The journal absorbed The Bookman in 1934. In the  late 1930s, the magazine ran into financial difficulties. The last issue was published in April 1939, after which the journal was absorbed into Life and Letters Today.

The Bookman was a monthly magazine published by Hodder & Staughton. First published in 1891, The Bookman was initially conceived as an advertising tool for Hodder and Stoughton’s catalogue. The journal also published essays and reviews. The journal was quick to respond to new technological innovations, including columns on film, photography and a new supplement called 'The Illustrated Bookman', which featured articles on travel writing and accompanying photographs that from today's perspective could be read as 'orientalist'. These photographs exoticized the locale, highlighting the places' strangeness, otherness and their attraction as a space for adventure and exploration.

Under the editorship of Hugh Ross-Williamson in the 1930s, the journal increasingly reviewed books on India and Indian political issues. Aubrey Menen became the drama critic for The Bookman from October 1933 to May 1934. His columns engaged with the state of London's commercial theatre and argued for an alternative theatre that was poltically engaging and addressed a wider constituency. He also intervened into debates around the creation of a national theatre. He called for a more realist style of acting and lamented the influence of film that in his opinion had lead to a dumbing down of theatre. The journal published a number of survey articles on Indian writing, and regularly reviewed books on Indian politics. The journal was incorporated into the London Mercury in 1935, which was absorbed into Life & Letters today in 1939.

The Africa and Orient Review continued the Africa Times and Orient Review, which was published irregularly between 1912 and 1918. The Africa and Orient Review was published continuously from January to September 1920, with another issue in December 1920. It was edited by Dusé Mohammed Ali and had its offices in 158 Fleet Street, London EC4. The journal attempted to decentre Eurocentric perspectives on British action in the Middle East, Africa and India. The journal's brief was to help overcome misunderstandings and prejudice by providing accurate information to its readership on topics of interest to the British Empire. The journal took an anti-imperialist stance, supporting the right of subject peoples of the British Empire for self-determination. Its mission was to inform the British public about the 'aims and desires of the African and Oriental'. It saw its target audience as politicians, thinkers, publicists and cabinet ministers.

The journal featured not only political articles, but also attempted to include light-hearted matters, for instance a 'coloured ladies' beauty contest, inviting readers to send in photographs. The journal also featured a photograph of the Man of the Month, which was judged to be Rabindranath Tagore in the April 1920 issue for returning his knighthood in protest of the 1919 Amritsar Massacre. Of interest are also Ali’s sharply observed editorials, such as on the House of Commons debate of the Amritsar Massacre and on the legacy of Dadabhai Naoroji. While early issues maintain a balance between topical essays about all three regions, the later issues refocus their attention mainly on Africa and Egypt.