THE INDIAN MUTINY OF 1857

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No mention of Indian history is complete without a reference to the Mutiny of 1857. Here was an event, which attempted to strike at the roots of the British Empire. Books on the subject abound, analysing the causes behind the military uprising as also the reasons for its failure. Written by a Britisher about three decades after the event, this book is singular in not pivoting on the story of the greased cartridges. The driving force of the Mutiny, theauthor states, is an emotion that is not 'personal' but 'national'. With its staggering array of facts and figures, the book picks up the trail of the rebellion, as it sweeps across different Indian states--interspersed with accounts of the heroism and military skills of the British officers and soldiers.G.B. Malleson was educated in Winchester. He obtained a cadetship in the Bengal infantry in 1852 and served through the second Burmese War. His subsequent appointments were in the civil lines, the last being that of a gaurdian to the young maharaja of Mysore. He retired with the rank of colonel in 1877, having been created C.S.I. in 1872.He was a voluminous writer, his first work to attract attention being the famous 'Red Pamphlet', published at Calcutta in 1857, when the Mutiny was at its height. He wrote the History of the Indian Mutiny. Among his other works the most valuable are the History of the French in India and The Decisive Battles of India.