Product Description

'By far the best single-volume description of the mutiny yet written' - Economist A beautifully written and meticulously researched narrative history of the great Indian uprising of 1857 by one of our most acclaimed living historians. First published in 1978 and re-issued with a handsome new cover for the 2002 paperback edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #305851 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 472 pages

About the Author
Christopher Hibbert is, in the words of the TES, 'perhaps the most gifted popular historian we have'. His books include THE DESTRUCTION OF LORD RAGLAN (which won the Heinemann Award for Literature in 1962); LONDON: THE BIOGRAPHY OF A CITY and THE VIRGIN QUEEN: THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF ELIZABETH I and THE MARLBOROUGHS (Viking 2001). Christopher Hibbert is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He is married with two sons and a daughter and lives in Henley-on-Thames.

Customer Reviews

Clear Look at Causes, Plus Great Telling
This is a gripping read of the events of the famous Indian Mutiny of 1857 in the India of the East India Company. The narrative of the actual famous sieges - Lucknow, Cawnpore, Dehli, etc, is fascinating and very moving. This book is also interesting for the depth it goes into of the causes, on both sides. I especially liked the look at the origins of the Mutiny, how certain Indian nobles were upset at the British putting a stop to their anarchic fleecing of the countryside - replacing it with their own, more organized taxation. Nothing is left out of the savagery of the Indians at Cawnpore when massacring the women and children who they had agreed to offer safe conduct to (a really harrowing tale), nor of the "Old Testament-style wrath" the British meted out in return. A fascinating book. I agree with the other reviewer who says this book makes yo want to travel to India. I did; the three books on modern India by V.S. Naipaul were especially helpful and cogent for other aspects of India on my visit, especially for the no-nonsense look at India's outstanding problems. But bring Hibbert, too, for this chapter of history. The sites of Lucknow and Cawnpore are marvellously maintained by the government of India.

Extremely absorbing, balanced account of Indian Mutiny
This is an excellent account of the 1857 Mutiny; Hibbert manages to convey something of what it must have been like to have suffered through the siege of Lucknow and the massacre at Cawnpore, at the same time pulling no punches about the British response, and rejecting (quite convincingly, and while eschewing emotionalism) the attempts in modern times to turn the Mutiny into some sort of independance movement - the rapaciousness of the local Indian elite (eg, Nana Sahib), insensed at the British encroachment on their revenue/extortion rackets, he argues, fueled the fire of the rebellion, along with those awful pork cartridges.

This is a compelling read, both for the events themselves (the events/massacres of European women and children at Dehli are as gripping s those of Cawnpore and Lucknow) and for the author's inquiry into the causes behind it. Don't be surpised if it makes you want to go to Indian to see the sites themselves (which have been preserved by the Indian government - the Residency in Lucknow is a beautifully maintained park); when I went, I met a Frenchman at the Cawnpore memorial church who had likewise just finished this book and had also felt compelled to see it. Now that's good writing!

Great narrative but a lame conclusion
As the other reviews say, it is good stuff. He pulls together different sources brilliantly and weaves it into a compelling narrative.
Mainly because of the extant evidence, though, it has got a totally British bias, and you don't get much sense of what it was like, say, to have been one of the people besieging Cawnpore, or mutinying at Meerut. Yes, you see first the paralysis and then the bloodthirstiness of the Brits from their own mouths, but what did the Indians think was happening?
More seriously, the last chapter is a great disappointment. So, the Indian Mutiny was "the swan song of the old India". What is that supposed to mean? Hibbert actually finishes the book by quoting someone else, which to me is a sign he hasn't actually thought it through that deeply. I was crying out for a deeper analysis of how the British psyche changed, how the Indian psyche changed, what in retrospect caused the level of brutality etc.etc. from someone obviously totally at home with the sources, but it never came.
So, yes, very enjoyable read, compellingly put together, but a bit disappointing as well.