ABSTRACT
Prevented by Durham from writing a book at Lower Stonehams, Adrian Stokes instead began writing it in the form of a diary during his voyage east to Bombay. As though he were the Greek hero, Theseus, following a thread provided by Ariadn as a means of retracing his footsteps in a labyrinth away from the monster Minotaur, he called the resulting book, The Thread of Ariadne. Against this monster Adrian championed "the realization of Youth" and "the art of creating a harmony of emotions and states of mind, diverse in themselves but incapable of standing alone, pure, and without contrast, and so, interdependent from their very nature". In one of his newspaper articles published in India he mentioned getting together with a British soldier—"a Tommy"—on the train taking them to Agra and the Taj Mahal.
