Rudrangshu Mukherjee places the 'soldier-peasant' at the forefront of the Revolt. Violence has rarely been described with so much realism and subtlety. The imaginative use of primary source materials adds clarity to accounts such as the massacre in Satichaura Ghat and the trial of Mangal Pandey. The layers of complexity that defined the relationship between the rulers and the subjugated are also exposed.

The revolt of 1857 continues to arouse interest and debate. This book, first published in 1984 and now in paperback for the first time, remains one of the best studies of popular resistance and peasant rebellion. This revised edition features a new introduction, which provides an update on the historiography of peasant revolt. The author also charts some of these changes and their relevance to a deeper understanding of the uprising of 1857.

"With this rich and interesting ensemble of essays, we finally have a handy sourcebook of Gandhi's writings."—The Journal of Asian Studies.