The issue of nationalism and anti-nationalism has always been the subject of intense debate. To deride own country and culture has become the hallmark of India's intelligentsia. Why does India breed so many traitors? Is treachery a part of our DNA? An attempt has also been made to analyse reasons for our disunity, caste-ridden elections and degradation of the national institutions. Pakistan was born on anti-India plank and shedding of anti-India posture would amount to questioning the very logic of its creation. After tracing its saga of treachery, the book recommends that balkanization is the only cure for cancer-afflicted Pakistan. Advocates of cultural and cricketing ties with Pakistan are belittling the sacrifices of those battling militancy. It asserts that demilitarisation of Siachen is a seditious proposition. The book exposes the true agenda of unscrupulous pseudo-intelligentsia that resorts to highly slanderous campaigns to spawn dissensions and tarnish the image of the country. Finally, the book exposes the Non-Functional Upgradation to be a bureaucratic scam of gargantuan proportions.

It may come as some surprise that in such a popular area of military history there is no book that focuses on the experience of the Victorian soldier--from recruitment to embarkation, fighting, and perhaps returning, perhaps dying -- in his own words. Dr. Manning's meticulous research in primary sources gives the lie to the received image of the disciplined, redcoated campaigner of Victorian art and literature--for one thing, by the time he arrived at his destination, the coat would have been in rags. The distances covered on march were unbelievable, through desert and disease-ravaged swamp. Lavishly illustrated thoughout, all the major Colonial campaigns and most of the minor ones are featured. To understand how what was in reality a tiny standing army controlled the largest empire the world has ever seen, this book is a must.