During the British Raj, the orphan of a British soldier poses as a Hindu and is torn between his loyalty to a Buddhist mystic and aiding the English secret service.

Kim, a young boy living on his own on the streets of India, is actually the son of a British officer. He meets a lama, a holy man, and devotes himself to his tending. But when British administrators discover his birthright, he is placed in a British school. His nature, however, is opposed to the regimentation expected for the son of a British soldier, and he rebels. His familiarity with Indian life and his ability to pass as an Indian child allows him to function as a spy for the British as they attempt to thwart revolution and invasion of India. Rejoining his holy man, Kim (with the help of daring adventurer Mahbub Ali) takes on a dangerous mission.—Jim Beaver <[email protected]>

Kim is a young orphan boy, the son of a British soldier by the name of O'Hara who plays - and survives - pretending to be an Indian, He joins a Tibetan lama in search of a holy river but when a British Regimental chaplain discover he's a white boy, he's put into a school for the orphans of soldiers and eventually St. Xavier's, an expensive private paid for his friend the lama. He doesn't fit in very well however and when the long summer holiday arrives he runs off. When he overhears a plot to kill his friend Mahbub Ali, a spy in the employ of British Colonel Creighton, Kim saves him and is recruited to play the great game. When one of Creighton's operatives is killed, Kim goes off on his own and discovers a Russian plot to establish a military presence in the north.—garykmcd