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With this book in hand, the battlefields of the Punjab come alive once again. --Professor Peter Doyle, Battlefield Archaeologist, Co-Secretary, All Party War Graves and Battlefield Heritage Group.
The First Anglo-Sikh War' unearths a wealth of rarely studied sources and marries them to exhaustive field research to produce a detailed study of an important but largely forgotten campaign. --John Keay, Historian, Author of India: A History
The sections on the battlefields today, which include vivid descriptions of the aftermath of combat by eyewitnesses, so often overlooked in works of military history, will help to make this a key work for a long time to come. --Dr. Tony Pollard, Battlefield archaeologist (BBC TV series presenter Two Men in a Trench)
The First Anglo-Sikh War' unearths a wealth of rarely studied sources and marries them to exhaustive field research to produce a detailed study of an important but largely forgotten campaign. --John Keay, Historian, Author of India: A History
The sections on the battlefields today, which include vivid descriptions of the aftermath of combat by eyewitnesses, so often overlooked in works of military history, will help to make this a key work for a long time to come. --Dr. Tony Pollard, Battlefield archaeologist (BBC TV series presenter Two Men in a Trench)
Product Description
During the eighteenth and early years of the nineteenth century, the red tide of British expansion had covered almost the entire Indian subcontinent, stretching to the borders of the Punjab. There the great Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh had developed his military forces to thwart any British advance into his kingdom north of the River Sutlej. Yet on the death of Ranjit Singh, unworthy successors and disparate forces fought over his legacy while the British East India Company seized on the opportunity and prepared for battle. In the winter of 1845, the First Anglo-Sikh War broke out. From the start, the two-month campaign was marred by Victorian arrogance and bluster on the British side and personal ambition, intrigue and treason in the Sikh camp. Five keenly fought contests ensued, including the great battle of Ferozeshah where the British force found itself caught between two powerful Sikh armies and came close to destruction. Declining to retreat, Sir Hugh Gough, the British Commander-in-Chief, told his second in command: My mind is made up. If we must perish, it is better that our bones should bleach honourably at Ferozeshah than rot at Ferozepore: but they shall do neither the one nor the other. The fate of the British Empire in India would be decided that day. Amarpal S. Sidhu writes a warts and all tale of a conflict characterised by treachery, tragedy and incredible bravery on both sides. In an innovative approach to history writing, the narrative of the campaign is accompanied by battlefi eld guides that draw on eyewitness accounts and invite the reader to take a tour of the battlefi elds, either physically or virtually. Fully illustrated with period drawings, modern-day photographs and new maps, The First Anglo-Sikh War gives a forgotten conflict the meticulous attention it deserves.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the most complete and definitive work I have read on the subject. One of the recommendations on the book flap reads "An extremely detailed study providing as definitive a narrative..". I thought it was the usual blurb but as I went through the book I found this was actually spot on for a change. There's more detail of the war in this book than in any other. The book starts of with a good historical perspective of the situation on the eve of the war. There's a good rundown of the machinations and intrigues that went on in Lahore. The author covers the British view of the infighting going on north of the Sutlej and in a matter of fact way and sticking to the facts he details the various preparations the British made for war. The battles themselves are covered in real heavy detail - and more. There's more though - there's a battlefield guide for each battle at the end of the book. Definitely one for military history fans. Thoroughly recommend it. This is the book to have if you want to read about this war !!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This review was first posted on the Army Rumour Service, Book Reviews section http://www.arrse.co.uk/content/541-first-anglo-sikh-war-amarpal-s-sidhu.html
This book is a cracking read. Buy it. Do it now.
The First Anglo-Sikh War is a singular book in that it manages to elicit favorable comments from proper historians, battlefield archeologists and now, from History Poodles like me.
The foreword by Prof. Peter Doyle BSc PhD Cgeol FGS; Battlefield Archeologist; Co-Secretary, All Party War Graves and Battlefield Heritage Group says "With this book in hand, the battlefields of the Punjab come alive again". And Professor Doyle aint wrong. The sleeve reviews are by people of stature in the serious history game.
But for those of us who like to poodle through our history, cherry-picking obscure wars and events, and who get bored easy, this book is also a fascinating page-turner.
It is set in 1845. Just after the horrible retreat from Kabul. So John Company and British Pride weren't exactly screaming from the terraces. We had captured most of India using a simple but effective proposition:
"See things our way and you can keep your Palace and some of your revenue. Oppose us, and you see those Irish guys polishing their bayonets over there? Look. They are waving". Superior military technology and back-stabbing diplomacy, God love us.
I had assumed the Sikh wars were pretty much the same sort of thing. A couple of wars, the Sikhs see things our way then come to be as useful to us as the Gurkha for the next hundred years or so.
Wrong.
My first surprise was my definition of `Sikh'. Having spent time in and around Amritsar as a younger man, I assumed that would be their capital. Wrong again. It was Lahore in Pakistan. They had also nicked Kashmir and hoofed the Afghan out of Peshawar. They had European mercenaries to train their heavy gun crews (who managed to cattle our lads all ends and sides), to drill their huge army and to advise on modern military tactics.
And anyone who knows the Sikh, knows that they are brave, to the point of Gurkha brave (so were the Brits and the Seypoys in this one).
But there was a flaw. The Sikh army had some weird Communist thing going on. The soldiers could `elect' their officers. Or de-elect them. Either through a meeting without biscuits, or an axe through the back of the head. Just so it got the job done, either one worked for them.
Soooo, the more sensible Sikhs saw that their formidable army was actually an undisciplined rabble and more to the point, they could be next for the meeting / axe experience.
And they plotted with Brit political agents to lose the war.
Astonishing not so much because it happened, but because with our well honed ability to miss-read a situation, and the hierarchy of the day ignoring their Spook assets, we almost managed to lose a sub-Continent.
I do hope that has given you a desire to read this book?
And for the weirdo battlefield archeologists among you, Sidhu has done a fab Guide at the end. With this book in hand, a decent GPS and the ability to say "Sorry about Koh-i-Noor but Cawnpore makes us quits, eh? Any chance of a chai and a bedi?" You might walk the battlefields of the Punjab and truly make them come alive again.
This book is a cracking read. Buy it. Do it now.
The First Anglo-Sikh War is a singular book in that it manages to elicit favorable comments from proper historians, battlefield archeologists and now, from History Poodles like me.
The foreword by Prof. Peter Doyle BSc PhD Cgeol FGS; Battlefield Archeologist; Co-Secretary, All Party War Graves and Battlefield Heritage Group says "With this book in hand, the battlefields of the Punjab come alive again". And Professor Doyle aint wrong. The sleeve reviews are by people of stature in the serious history game.
But for those of us who like to poodle through our history, cherry-picking obscure wars and events, and who get bored easy, this book is also a fascinating page-turner.
It is set in 1845. Just after the horrible retreat from Kabul. So John Company and British Pride weren't exactly screaming from the terraces. We had captured most of India using a simple but effective proposition:
"See things our way and you can keep your Palace and some of your revenue. Oppose us, and you see those Irish guys polishing their bayonets over there? Look. They are waving". Superior military technology and back-stabbing diplomacy, God love us.
I had assumed the Sikh wars were pretty much the same sort of thing. A couple of wars, the Sikhs see things our way then come to be as useful to us as the Gurkha for the next hundred years or so.
Wrong.
My first surprise was my definition of `Sikh'. Having spent time in and around Amritsar as a younger man, I assumed that would be their capital. Wrong again. It was Lahore in Pakistan. They had also nicked Kashmir and hoofed the Afghan out of Peshawar. They had European mercenaries to train their heavy gun crews (who managed to cattle our lads all ends and sides), to drill their huge army and to advise on modern military tactics.
And anyone who knows the Sikh, knows that they are brave, to the point of Gurkha brave (so were the Brits and the Seypoys in this one).
But there was a flaw. The Sikh army had some weird Communist thing going on. The soldiers could `elect' their officers. Or de-elect them. Either through a meeting without biscuits, or an axe through the back of the head. Just so it got the job done, either one worked for them.
Soooo, the more sensible Sikhs saw that their formidable army was actually an undisciplined rabble and more to the point, they could be next for the meeting / axe experience.
And they plotted with Brit political agents to lose the war.
Astonishing not so much because it happened, but because with our well honed ability to miss-read a situation, and the hierarchy of the day ignoring their Spook assets, we almost managed to lose a sub-Continent.
I do hope that has given you a desire to read this book?
And for the weirdo battlefield archeologists among you, Sidhu has done a fab Guide at the end. With this book in hand, a decent GPS and the ability to say "Sorry about Koh-i-Noor but Cawnpore makes us quits, eh? Any chance of a chai and a bedi?" You might walk the battlefields of the Punjab and truly make them come alive again.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Thank you Mr Sidhu - for a book that clearly gives new insights on the events of 1845-46. The book is a solid work of historical inquiry but is blessed with the personal moments that make history relevant to us in the present. The book is objective and is well balance and does address some of the 'cultural perspectives' of Donald Featherstone and Gough and Innes. My family was involved in both of the Anglo - Sikh wars on the Sikh side and it is great to read factual history that backs the oral history I was brought up listening to. The saddest thing about the book is that once again it is clearly apparent that the 'republican' Sikhs brave in soul and in heart have too a large degree lacked honest leadership when required since 1839 and have often followed those who speak loudest in voice or gesture. But Mr Sidhu as someone who has been interested in these episodes since I was a child I thoroughly recommend your book and cannot wait until the 'The Second Anglo Sikh War is published'. Thank you.
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Recommended
I was a tad reluctant to get this book at first, fearing that it wouldn't contribute to what I had already read about the first Sikh conflict with the Anglos (and their supporting... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Dally
Excellent
This book was excellent - insightful, entertaining, with some interesting accounts of actual events, and very easy to read - highly recommended!!
Published 19 months ago by Military Maniac
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