INDIAN EMPIRE AT WAR

A pioneering study that looks at the 1914-18 War from the perspective of South Asia. 1.5 million Indians fought with the British in the First World War from Flanders to the African bush and the deserts of the Islamic world. They saved the Allies from defeat in 1914 and were vital to global victory in 1918. Beautifully written, the book uses previously unpublished veteran interviews to tell their story as never before and is of vital importance to understanding the war and our world today. Fluent and colourful, these interview transcripts were recorded in the 1970s and Morton-Jack has produced a multi-layered and rigorously researched and empathetic history told with an easy, flowing grace. The Indian Army was a war-winning machine, and his book exposes the cruel nature and sheer brutality of the British colonial regime and the Indian soldiers who served, and lays bare the endemic racism that they shamefully suffered. We meet an excellent cast of characters including the deserter brothers Mir Dast VC and Mir Mast, the tragic figure of General Willcocks, and many others in this highly original and dedicated history of the Indian experience. 595pp, paperback, maps and photos.