Publisher's Synopsis
The Crimean War is over and Lieutenant 'Fancy Jack' Crossman finds himself posted to India to assist the army of the East India Company gather intelligence at a time when there is increasing dissent among the Indian troops.
Crossman lands at Bombay, expecting to make his way north to the Punjab and the irregular infantry force known as Coke's Rifles. Accompanying him is Sgt Farrier Jones, a military cartographer and highly intelligent man. The two do not get on: Crossman, recently up from the ranks, sees nothing of his former self in Jones and believes the sergeant is getting too big for his boots. There is trouble ahead too with the sulky Rajput, a man who has no desire to be bodyguard to a British officer but is none the less commissioned to guide Crossman and Jones north. After an eventful journey the three men reach their destination, only to find themselves swept up in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the march to relieve Delhi. They take part in the siege and eventual assault on the old Mughal capital. In the long and bloody battle that culminates in guerrilla warfare, destruction and death in the streets, Crossman resumes a life of espionage and sabotage with all his old courage and determination, but in a very new and exotic setting. Full of incident and adventure, Kilworth's tale succeeds in giving a real flavour of the times.
