By a Private Soldier Livres

This book, from the series Primary Sources: Historical Books of the World (Asia and Far East Collection), represents an important historical artifact on Asian history and culture. Its contents come from the legions of academic literature and research on the subject produced over the last several hundred years. Covered within is a discussion drawn from many areas of study and research on the subject. From analyses of the varied geography that encompasses the Asian continent to significant time periods spanning centuries, the book was made in an effort to preserve the work of previous generations.

Written after the author had retired from the army into the ranks of the Leicestershire Police, this is a rare worm s eye view of British military service in India in the mid-19th century. John Ryder was an illiterate working man when he took the queen s shilling ( he learned to read and write in the army) but, as the editor of his memoirs patronisingly writes though ungrammatical, the bright ore gleamed through the rough earth in which [the manuscript] was encrusted . The book is indeed a vividly rough and ready acount of the author s Indian military service, including honest accounts of atrocities ( some by British troops); military actions including the siege of Mooltan; as well as the more ordinary trials and tribulations in the heat and dust of India. An eye-opening account of great value to all those who want a taste of the sweaty reality at the sharp end of life in the armed service of the East India Company.