The Great Indian Mutiny: Colin Campbell and the Campaign at Lucknow [Hardcover]

Bruce Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0275938344 | ISBN-13: 978-0275938345

In 1857-1858, rebels in northern India recruited tens of thousands of civilian volunteers in a mutiny that threatened to engulf the entire subcontinent. This study explores a fundamental question never explicitly investigated in histories of the mutiny: How could a vastly outnumbered British army, with dangerously extended lines of supply and reinforcement, defeat so large a force on its home ground? Watson addresses the problem by focusing on the Lucknow campaign, which was pivotal to the success of the British, and abandons the usual narrative approach to the subject in favor of an analysis of the leadership, armies, and other crucial elements in the campaign. After reviewing the religious, economic, and political unrest that set the stage for the mutiny, Watson provides a brief history of the campaign. In his comparative analysis of the armies and leadership of the combatants, a panorama of contrasts emerges. The British had the advantages of experienced and well-organized leadership, a better trained and organized army, superior weapons, and a cohesive sense of purpose. The rebel forces, on the other hand, consisted of decentralized armies whose effectiveness was compromised by the influx of untrained volunteers and whose leaders were mainly revolutionaries and military amateurs with few common goals. In his analytical comparisons of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and other factors affecting fighting ability, Watson applies John Keegan's "categories of battle" to develop equations that spell out the character of battle not only for the Lucknow campaign but for the entire conflict. Adding a new dimension to our understanding of the mutiny, this book is relevant to historical study of India, the British Empire, and the British army, and will also appeal to military history buffs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

BRUCE WATSON is emeritus professor of art history and former Chairman of the Division of Applied and Fine Arts at Diablo Valley College.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (August 30, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275938344
• ISBN-13: 978-0275938345
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,863,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another point of view., November 22, 2004

By 

R. Trochim "Napoleonic History Buff" (CO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Indian Mutiny: Colin Campbell and the Campaign at Lucknow (Hardcover)

I disagree for these reasons:
Mr. Watson does state he would like to take another aprroach to the mutiny and to examine the question how a smaller British force defeated a larger native uprising. In some degree, he does just that. While he addresses this in chapter 8, he also touches on the topic in other chapters of the book. He also brings to light other details of the mutiny that other books don't give that much attention to or just mention briefly. This book is more geared to those familiar with the Indian Mutiny even though a reader new in the area of this part of history shouldn't have any troubles reading and understanding what Mr Watson is saying.
I would have to strongly agree that the book is overpriced. I can understand paying $85 for "Campaigns of Napoleon" by David Chandler, but to spend $85 for Mr. Watson's 120 page book seems a bit extreme. Even if it does examine some aspects of the mutiny, but in no great details, that other books seem to ignore.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A short and disappointing rehash not worth the money, January 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Great Indian Mutiny: Colin Campbell and the Campaign at Lucknow (Hardcover)

This is an expensive and I found pretentious little book which offers little new. I say pretentious as it says that it will be different and that it will explain why so few British soldiers so far from support could defeat the much larger army that they did. Having set himself this task the author then fails to deliver and provides instead simply another potted biography. Not much original here. Four out of ten.