Customer Reviews

The Indian Mutiny

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The Indian Mutiny remains one of the most dramatic and exciting chapters in Great Britain's colonial history. Historians still debate whether it was just a mutiny by native soldiers (sepoys) and cavalry (sowars), as opposed to a war of independence. Most modern Indians tend to view it as the latter, but from an objective historical perspective the opposite is more true: the genesis of the struggle lay in the mistaken belief by the native military contingents that the British were attempting to convert them to Christianity and/or to break their caste, and in resentment over losing certain privileges that the native military had once enjoyed in the English run legal system. To the extent the rebellion received popular support, it tended to come from disgruntled Indian royalty who resented (and not without justification) the loss of their hereditary rights and titles. The uprising in fact was put down only with the assistance of loyal native troops (especially Sikhs, Gurkhas, and Afghans)who actually out-numbered British troops in the field.
The author has done his research and it shows: the rapid momentum of the rebellion and the rush to save besieged Europeans from rebel territory is dramatically recounted, and good use is made of verbatim contemporary accounts rendered by many of the British participants. The author meticulously describes the ebb and flow of the various battles and sieges that occurred, in such a fashion that you feel like you are actually there. The struggle was replete with feats of bravado by both individuals and entire battalions, on both sides, and the author's fondness for both India and the Victorian Army of the time comes through.
The British storming and retaking of Delhi, the siege and relief of Lucknow, and the siege and subsequent massacres at Cawnpore have to stand as some of the most violent, dramatic and heart-rending epics of human endurance and courage ever experienced, and the author's detailed descriptions and extensive research of these and other related events make this a thrilling piece of work. Well illustrated with contemporary photographs, maps and paintings, this work is highly recommended to any student of Victorian military history or to anyone who just wants a great read.

Some histories are dry recitations -- this book is very engaging, primarily due to the author's masterful use of balancing the writing techniques and the subject matter. First, in addition to the expected third person descriptive writing, the author makes liberal (but not excessive) use of first person accounts from the period, making this history come alive. There is also a balance between the extreme hardships suffered by various besieged garrisons on the one hand, and the proactive efforts of those attemting to relieve them. The author also does a good job in introducing us to the personalities of many of the leaders -- Nicholson, Havelock, Napier, etc. The only criticism I have (which the author freely acknolwedges in the text) is the relatively short and summary treatment of the final year or so of operations, after Cawnpore and Lucknow had been finally relieved. All in all an enjoyable, interesting read. A nice final touch is a short chapter at the end on visiting the sites referred to in the text.