New Literature: The Mutiny

2007 will see the 150th anniversary of the single most cataclysmic event to threaten the Victorian British Empire – the Indian Mutiny. A conspiracy of princes, led by the King of Delhi, last of the Mughals, fomented the religious discontent of the Bengal Army into open rebellion across the north and central plains of the sub-continent. For two months horrors multiplied: Europeans and Native Christians were massacred in Delhi, Cawnpore, Futtehpore, Jhansi; smaller numbers were slaughtered in civil stations and outposts across the Oude and the Doab.

Reinforcements poured in through Calcutta, valetudinarian generals were replaced by hardened warriors who had served in the Crimea; the mutineers, poorly led and without a proper chain of command, were defeated again and again, both in pitched battles and by the heroic defenders of places like the Residency in Lucknow, and all this in spite of having the benefit of odds of up to ten to one in their favour.

Four factors favoured the often, tiny British armies: the range and accuracy of the Enfield rifle, superior artillery, disciplined cavalry, and, perhaps the deadliest of all weapons, the British infantryman with a bayonet. Technology played its part: one Indian commander at least asserted that it was the electric telegraph that strangled the rebels. Terrible retribution followed each victory: thousands of sepoys were hanged after the briefest of trials, villages supposed to have aided the insurgency were burnt in what amounted to an orgy of revenge until Lord Canning, ‘Clemency’ Canning, applied the brake.

Against this backdrop Julian Rathbone’s gripping novel, The Mutiny, presents the historical characters in a dramatic and dynamic light: the Governor- General Lord Canning, Bahadur Shah the last Emperor, Generals like Sir Colin Campbell and Sir Hugh Rose who led their armies from the front, and the intensely romantic and charismatic Rani of Jhansi, the Joan of Arc of India. Queen Victoria herself makes an appearance, and William Hodson too, the true original of Flashman. As central to the novel as these are, the passionate and often tragic lives of Rathbone’s fictional characters represent all the best and worst characteristics of both the English and the Indians. Rathbone does not flinch from depicting the ignorant racism that stained the minds of most Europeans, both sahibs and tommies, while celebrating their indomitable courage in terrible times.

Tracing the difficulties faced by Sophie Hardcastle, separated from her infant son Stephen in the chaos, Rathbone’s narrative bears witness to the appalling atrocities committed by both sides. Brutal, bloody and intensely moving, this brilliantly sustained and unflinching tale - The Mutiny - is as exhilarating as any adventure story.

Julian Rathbone is the author of many books, including the bestselling The Last English King and the Booker short-listed Joseph, as well as the hugely acclaimed A Very English Agent. He is married with two children and lives in Hampshire.

To be published by Little, Brown on Thursday 18 January 2007, price 16.99