If the American war of independence was the sole example of a
British colony successfully revolting against the mother country,
the Indian mutiny fascinates as (from the colonial point of view)
the next best thing: an example of a revolt which almost succeeded,
which taught the British that subjugation of a whole nation was not
something to be taken for granted, and which set in train the
inevitable sweep of events which led in the end to Indian
independence. In a long and deeply researched book, Saul David
begins at the beginning - with the suspicion of Indian troops that
their cartridges (the ends of which they had to bite off before
use) were greased with beef and pork tallow, and therefore bitterly
offended their religious feelings. The story has many glosses, all
of which the author explores (including the allegation that quite
apart from this, the bones of pigs and cows were ground into flour
used to make bread for the troops, and the strange story of a
sudden proliferation of chapatties - possibly one of the signals of
revolt). But his main effort is in creating a detailed
chronological account of the mutiny from its outbreak at Meerut
(when troops rescued their colleagues, arrested for refusing to use
the suspect cartridges) to the massacre at Cawnpore and the siege
of the Lucknow residency. The material at David's command is so
rich as to be overpowering; he starts with accounts of the bored
complacence which made it almost impossible for the British to
believe that anything could disturb the peace of their rule, then
during the revolt itself describes events of the utmost brutality
and the utmost bravery, both qualities displayed by Indians and
British alike. The narrative moves briskly, almost with the speed
and interest of the original incidents. This will certainly be for
the foreseeable future the most reliable account of this remarkable
piece of British and Indian history. (Kirkus UK)
The bloody insurrection of 1857 that became known as the Indian Mutiny remains a dark stain on Britain’s Imperial past. The British complacency that fuelled the rebellion; the ease with which it spread; the horrific massacres of innocents and the merciless retribution that followed; and the bravery of those who fought together made this a conflict that marked both countries. Now Saul David casts fresh light on this extraordinary episode, challenging many of the long-standing assumptions about both its causes and the inevitability of British victory.
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