As a lover of History, it was hardly possible that I would not want to read a book on "the" uprising. However, what really drew to it was the promise of unveiling the players behing the whole gigantic event. The book does not disappoint at all. The facts, figures, the little footnotes detailing eye-witness records, all make for great reading.One has to make a really decent effort to keep up with the characters, because without a link, everything goes poof! But once you get the hang of things, then it is really easy to know who is doing what.
The author has evidently researched a lot, and it shows in the descriptive nature of the book.The details are painstakingly drawn out, and one can feel the intensity, the frustration and the anger of the Englishmen, the rebels, the overburdened Bahadur Shah Zafar and practically everyone else involved in the whole drama. The major highlight is the fact that it shows the Bahadur Shah Zafar was an unwilling leader to this rebellion, and not the perpetrator. The cast of characters is magnificent, and really worht a read. If you love History, you will be engrossed from page 1.
The culture, the ambience and the essence of the times has really been captured wel, and it is worth a read for the wealth of information it provides. It also shows how the Mughals dug their own grave unwillingly, schemed against each other, were paranoid, and dilly-dallied from a position where Hindustan could have been liberated in one stroke. The battles, the massacres, the plotting, the bravery, the cowardice, all these, and much more, will keep you engrossed as you ponder on a pardise lost, an era ended, an empire destroyed.