Military reading list

Army

• Duckers, Peter

The British Indian Army, 1860-1914. Princes Risborough: Shire, 2003 (Shire album; 213)

This useful, well-illustrated little book provides an introduction to the institution, uniforms, arms and services of the Indian Army from its formation in 1860 until the advent of WW1.

• Holmes, Richard

Sahib : the British soldier in India 1750-1914. London: HarperCollins, 2005

"Holmes is a distinguished historian of the British Army ...[In this book he writes] about both [East India] Company and British Army soldiers, and both the officers and the rankers. He seems to be on surer ground when it comes to the British Army and to the officers but still has much to tell us on the rankers, with his source material coming from a mixture of the ten page bibliography and memoirs and letters. He lists eighteen such sources in the National Army Museum and thirteen in the British Library (as well as published sources), and gives numerous extracts from them as he describes what life was like... As nearly every fact is footnoted with the citation, anyone who is interested can follow up clues in the bibliography. All in all, this 500 page book is excellent background reading for anyone with a soldier ancestor." The full review by Steve van Dulken is available on p. 46 of the FIBIS Journal 15 (Spring 2006)

• India. Army Dept.

Army regulations, India. Vol. 7: dress. Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001

A reprint of the 1913 official instructions regarding all aspects of dress for both the British Army in India and the Indian Army. Descriptions of uniforms, facings, badges and devices are given for all regiments, and the variations for all officers, staff, and men.

• Jackson, Donovan

India's Army. London: Sampson Low, Marston, 1940

Available in a number of reprints, "Major Donovan Jackson's comprehensive compilation of histories of individual regiments of the Indian Army is an almost essential reference tool for those interested in the Indian Army during the British Colonial period. In the author's forward he notes that much of the contents of the book originally appeared as a series of articles in The Statesman during 1938-39. All the histories were compiled from official or regimental sources. For each regiment Major Jackson covers its development and changes of names, with relevant dates, actions, awards, notes on uniforms, etc. The book is copiously illustrated with photographs and drawings of badges. No regiment is excluded, with brief histories of the units of the Auxiliary Force (Volunteer Regiments) included, as well as lengthier descriptions of the Indian States Forces, Body Guards and Irregular Regiments. The only criticism is that there is neither a bibliography nor a subject index provided. However, the overall content makes this an outstanding work of reference on the Indian Army from its earliest days as EIC Army regiments up to the outbreak of WWII". (Sylvia Murphy, 2008)

Army lists

Army lists are the directories of this section of the military. They are a useful way of tracking an officer's career. Some key years are available as reprints. Original editions may be consulted in large reference collections.

• Hart, G. A.

Hart's annual army list for 1860. Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001

Lt. Col. Hart's annual volumes, begun in 1840 and continued until 1915, generally contain far more career information than the official Army Lists. This is a reprint of the edition corrected to December 1859, and thus includes details of service in the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny. Covers all Commissioned Officers (including paymasters, quartermasters, surgeons, etc) in the Army (including Militia), Ordnance and Marines.

• Hart, G. A.

Hart's annual army list for 1885. 2 vol. Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001

This is a reprint of the edition corrected to December 1884. Covers all Commissioned Officers (including paymasters, quartermasters, surgeons, etc) in the Army, Ordnance and Marines, plus the Militia list, Indian Civil Services list, Indian Staff Corps and Indian local forces.

HEIC armies

• Bailey, Peter

Researching ancestors in the East India Company's Armies. Families in British India Society, 2006. (FIBIS research guide; 1)

This is the essential handbook for anyone researching ancestors who were connected to the HEIC Armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras. It covers records from the armies' origins until their assimilation into the British Army in 1860. Laid out in a clear and accessible manner, the book directs searchers to records on all available stages of a man's career, whether officer or soldier, including sources which may provide details on his wife and children. For those researchers not fortunate enough to have access to the India Office Records at the British Library, the LDS film numbers are included. A full review by Richard Scott Morel, Archivist of Pre-1858 India Office Records, is available on pp. 45-46 of the FIBIS Journal 17 (Spring 2007)

British regiments

• Beckett, Ian F. W.

Discovering English county regiments. 3rd ed. Princes Risborough: Shire, 2003 (Discovering series; 294)

"This is a fabulous compact guide to the confusing world of British Army regiments. [It] lists all the Regiments of Foot ... and cross-references the regimental names with the regimental numbers. Equally importantly, it covers when regiments were raised, disbanded, and amalgamated with other regiments (including battalions). Each regiment has a brief history, and includes additional information such as battle honours, Victoria Crosses, nicknames, mottoes, memorials and details for the regimental museum. There are also numerous colour and B&W illustrations ... Please note that this book does not cover the Royal Artillery or the Royal Engineers". (Anne Kelsall, former FIBIS Webmaster and Marketing Manager, 2005).

• Richards, Frank

Old soldier sahib. Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003

Private Frank Richards DCM MM, enlisted in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in 1901 and, in this reprinted prequel to Old soldiers never die, he recounts his experiences as a British soldier serving primarily in India and Burma prior to WW1. As the publisher says: "his descriptions of the soldier's life in those countries in those far off days and his anecdotes makes wonderful reading".

Wars and battles

The Mutiny

• Dalrymple, William

The last Mughal : the fall of a dynasty. Delhi, 1857. London: Bloomsbury, 2006

For anyone who wishes to form a balanced picture of the Indian Mutiny, this is essential reading. The last Mughal of the book's title was the Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II, whose line, the House of Timur, had gradually seen their power and influence eroded by the British foreigners. Coming as traders but gradually amassing for themselves huge wealth and power, even to the extent of taking over the Emperor's capital city, Delhi, their overall arrogance and lack of understanding of the local people laid the ground for the largest uprising ever experienced in the British Empire. Using English, Urdu and Persian language sources, Dalrymple presents the results of his extensive research into the causes, events and consequences of the Mutiny in this readable but, of necessity, long book.

• David, Saul

The Indian Mutiny : 1857. London: Viking, 2002

This is the standard modern account of the Indian Mutiny.

• Llewellyn-Jones, Rosie

The great uprising in India 1857-58. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007. (Worlds of the East India Company; 2)

From the outset there has been a tendency to see the ‘Mutiny’ purely in military terms and concentrate on the stirring deeds of heroism, and even many modern histories largely ignore all other aspects. Dr Llewellyn-Jones’ new book is a helpful corrective. Heroism is there in abundance – but also bureaucracy, misunderstanding, crass stupidity and worse. The events of those terrible two years of 1857-8 contain an uneasy mixture of deeds both great and monstrous.

It must also be admitted that some of the older histories have tended to ignore the Indian point of view. Again Dr Llewellyn-Jones’ makes clear not only why so many Indians joined the uprising, but also how effective the Indian rule in the areas they controlled was.

The book has useful studies of many neglected aspects of the Uprising – the use of Prize Agents for example. Strongly recommended.

The full review by Richard Morgan, a FIBIS Trustee, is available on pp. 53-55 of the FIBIS Journal 19 (Spring 2008)

• Ward, Andrew

Our bones are scattered : the Cawnpore massacres and the Indian Mutiny of 1857. New York: Holt, 1996

Focusing on the siege and subsequent massacres at Cawnpore, the author presents an authoritative and detailed account of these horrific events, and their consequences. The result is a long, readable book with copious foot notes.