6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Outstanding Chronicle of the British in India, October 31, 2008
This review is from: The Indian Mutiny 1857-58 (Essential Histories) (Paperback)
This is definitely one of the better books in the Essential Histories series. It is succinct and very well written. The book follows the usual Essential Histories organization of a chronology, the origins of the conflict, the fighting, etc. There are additional chapters on the Raj and why the mutiny failed. These additional chapters not only provide informative analysis, they also act as a nice way to conclude the book.
Toward the front, there is a graphic map that lists all the major landmarks and battles. This map is an easy reference for the reader. In addition, the book contains a wide assortment of both black and white and color paintings. The drawings are conveniently placed next to the text, which describes that specific event. Although common sense would dictate that photos are placed next to the relevant text, that is not always the case. In any event, this book got it right.
A commonly held belief is that the mutiny was caused by a rumor that the new Enfield cartridges were covered in pig grease. The author, Mr. Fremont Barnes, tells the rest of the story. He goes on to describe underlying causes such as the loss of power by Indian rulers, new enlistment contracts that took away pensions for the sepoys, and a lack of bonding (a.k.a.: leadership) between the British officers and their native troops.
The "Fighting" chapter focuses on the three major conflicts, the siege of Delhi, the massacres at Cawnpore, and the relief of Lucknow. The author included clean tactical maps of these three operational areas. Thus, the reader should have no difficulty in understanding the locations and movements of the opposing forces.
The book also contains two "Portrait" chapters. The soldier portrait is focused on Brevet Major Anson, who was at the siege of Delhi. The civilian portrait highlights the survival of Amy Horne who was at the Cawnpore massacre. These chapters are written so that the reader can easily associate these people with the events described in the previous pages.
The last narrative chapter covers the campaigns of 1858. It is a concise chapter that outlines British operations in hunting down and eliminating the rebel leaders. As noted previously, the author concludes this work with a study of the Raj and why the mutiny failed. He also analyzes how the mutiny affected future generations of English settlers and religious evangelists.
Bottom line, this is a concise and well-written book. The reader will find it an easy read. The material is presented in a logical and well-organized manner that allows the reader to easily follow the story line. Definitely one of Osprey's better books.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
THE INDIAN MUTINY, 1857-58, April 17, 2011
This review is from: The Indian Mutiny 1857-58 (Essential Histories) (Paperback)
THE INDIAN MUTINY, 1857-58
GREGORY FREMONT-BARNES
OSPREY PUBLISHING, 2007
QUALITY SOFTCOVER, $14.95, 96 PAGES, MAPS, ILLUSTRATIONS, CHRONOLOGY
In the mid-19th Century, India was the focus of Britain's international prestige and commercial power-the most important colony in an empire which extended to every continent on the globe and protected by the seemingly dependable native armies of the East India Company. When, however, in 1857 discontent exploded into open rebellion, Britain was obliged to field its larhgest army in forty years to defend its "jewel in the crown". The Indian Mutiny of 1857-1858 had diverse political, economic, military, religious, and social causes.
The sepoys (the native Indian soldiers) had their own list of grievances against Company rule-mainly caused by the ethnic gulf between the British officers and their Indian troops. In the early years of Company rule, the British tolerated and even encouraged the caste privileges and customs within the Bengal Army, which recruited its regular soldiers almost exclusively amongst the landowning Bhumihar Brahmins and Rajputs of the Ganges Valley. By the time that these customs and privileges came to be threatened by modernizing regimes in Calcutta from the 1840s onward, the sepoys had become accustomed to a very high ritual status and therefore were extremely sensitive to suggestions that their caste might become polluted. The sepoys also gradually became dissatisfied with various other aspects of army life. Their pay was relatively low and after Awadh and the Punjab were annexed, the soldiers no longer received extra pay (batta or bhatta) for service there, because they were no longer considered "foreign missions." Finally, officers of an evangelical persuasion in the Company's army (such as Herbert Edwardes and Colonel S.G. Wheler of the 34th Bengal Infantry) had taken to preaching to their sepoys in the hope of converting them to Christianity.
In 1857, the controversy over the new pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle, in the eyes of many sepoys, added substance to the alarming rumors circulating about their imminent forced conversion to Christianity. To load the new rifle, the sepoys had to bite the cartridge open. It was believed that the cartridges (which were the standard issue for the rifle) were greased with lard (pork fat) which was regarded as unclean by Muslims, or tallow (beef fat), regarded as sacred to Hindus.
Other than Indian units of the British East India Company's army, much of the resistance came from the old aristocracy, who were seeing their power steadily eroded under the British. The British had annexed several states per the Doctrine of Lapse-which stated that if a federal ruler failed to leave a male heir through the natural process (his own child and not an adopted one), the land became the property of the British East India Company. Nobility, feudal landholders, and royal armies found themselves unemployed and humiliated due to British expamsionism. Even the jewels of the royal family of Nagpur were publicly auctioned in Calcutta, a move that was seen as a sign of abject disrespect by the remnants of the Indian aristocracy. Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General of India, had asked the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and his successors to leave the Red Fort, the palace in Delhi. Later, Lord Canning, the next governor-general of India, announced in 1856 that Bahadur Shah's successors wouldn't even be allowed to use the title of the king. Such discourtesies were resented by the deposed Indian rulers.
Some Indians were unhappy with the heavy-handed rule of the British which had embarked on a project of rapid expansion and Westernization, that, however well-meaning they may have been, were imposed without any regard for Indian culture or tradition. For example, changes introduced by the British, such as outlawing Sati (the ritual burning of widows) and child marriage, were prohibitions on Indian religious customs and seen as steps towards a forced conversion to Christianity.
The justice system was considered inherently unfair to the Indians. The official Blue Books-entitled East India (Torture) 1855-1857-that were laid before the British House of Commons during the 1856 and 1857 sessions; revealed that Company officers were allowed an extended series of appeals if convicted or accused of brutality or crimes against Indians.
The economic policies of the British East India Company were also resented by the Indians. The land was re-organized under the comparatively harsh Zamindari system to facilitate the collection of taxes. In certain areas, farmers were forced to switch from subsistence farming to commercial crops such as indigo, jute, coffee, and tea. This resulted in hardship to the farmers and increases in food prices. Local industry, specifically the famous weavers of Bengal and elsewhere, also suffered under British rule. Import tariffs were kept low, according to traditional British free-market sentiments, and thus the Indian market was flooded with cheap clothing from Britain. Indigenous industry simply couldn't compete, and where once India had produced much of England's luxury cloth; the country was now reduced to growing cotton which was shipped to Great Britain to be made into clothing, which was subsequently shipped back to India to be purchased by Indians.
By 1857, the last vestiges of independent Indian states had disappeared and the Company exported untold quantities of gold, jewels, silver, silk, cotton, and a host of other precious materials back to Great Britain every year. This extraordinary quantity of wealth, much of it collected as "taxes", was absolutely critical in expanding public and private infrastructure in Great Britain and in financing British expansionism elsewhere in Asia and Africa.
This book, THE INDIAN MUTINY, 1857-58 draws on the latest sources as well as numerous first-hand accounts, explains why the sepoy armies rose up against the world's leading imperial power, details the major places of fighting, including the massacres at Cawnpore and the epic sieges of Delhi and Lucknow, and carefully examines many other aspects of this compelling, at times horrifying, subject. The author has done a splendid job of research in bringing this historical milestone to the public's attention.
Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida
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