Redcoats for the Raj - Tales from a Victorian Barrackroom

India 1868; The Hot Season. Stifling barrack rooms and soul-destroying boredom, suddenly mixed with bouts of violence and brutality. The foot soldier was no part of the opulence that was the British Raj. From eight in the morning to five at night- unless parading for church on Sunday or chastising erring tribesmen on the North-West Frontier- the army locked its soldiers in huts to fester.

This is the story of the men who made Imperial India possible. They belonged to the underside of Victoria's Jewel in the Crown. Britain totally controlled the sub-continent not through enlightened government, but by force or arms. The Great Mutiny was put down, as were all other rebellions, by men just like those who lay in waiting in the stifling heat of the barrack rooms of Aliwal Lines.

This book almost become the basis for a TV series, but it was decided by the BBC that its portrayal of the Victorian soldier as racist would not be suitable viewing for the British public. While historically accurate, this book does contain material that the modern reader might find distasteful.