 Ian Jack, in "The Guardian", wrote that Kipling was not praising colonialism and empire in "Mandalay".He explained that Kipling did write verse such as The White Man's Burden which was pro-colonial, but that "Mandalay" was not of that kind.A similar point is made by the political scientist Igor Burnashov in an article for the "Kipling Society", where he writes that "the moving love of the Burmese girl and British soldier is described in a picturesque way.