Our Bones Are Scattered

This is a great story, objectively written and excellently researched. It transports the reader to the book's epoch in history and provides all the information needed to make the story alive and real. The background to the Mutiny , all of the leading protaganists male and female and their heroism and duplicity are brought into focus as the survivors of Cawnpore are guaranteed safe passage only to be massacred by the Ghat on the river when they were at their most vulnerable. Similarily the murder and disposal of innocents at the Bibighar. Both these acts , and in addition the siege itself and the retribution of the British including many Scottish regiments, highlight a clash of Northern Victorian with Eastern culture sufficient to show the reader the extremes of barbarity, cruelty and compassion of both. A superb story.

If you like military history, this book is an indispenable read about the siege and subsequent massacres at Cawnpore during the Indian Mutiny. The author makes the story very dramatic and readable, even though it is meticulously researched and abounds in footnotes. It is not an easy read but it is a very worthwhile read. Don't forget to reference the footnotes, as they will add to the experience. The Indian Mutiny was more of a mutiny by native soldiers and cavalry than it was a popular uprising, but contemporary Indian accounts tend to characterize it as the latter in an attempt to paint it as the first spark of independence for the country. While the book's emphasis is on the events at Cawnpore, which would prove to be a catalyst for British revenge and an iron-handed continuation of British rule over India, the book also is an excellent overview of the entire Mutiny. If this interests you, follow-up by reading about the siege of Lucknow or the storming of Delhi. A fascinating era of history which helps explain how things are now in the Indian sub-continent.

Andrew Ward's, "Our Bones are Scattered", was a gripping read. Hard to put down. Not history from 30,000 feet but ground level. You feel for individuals struggling to survive as their world crumbles into chaos. I didn't see a bias; Ward has clearly expressed the motivations and movements driving events from both sides. These movements resonate with events today: Here are ancient and admirable cultures violently rejecting the impositions of a more technologically advanced intruder... an epic that cries-out for film. Experience the best and the unimaginable worst as worlds collide.

This is without a doubt the best book ever written on the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. This tome has everything that makes gripping reading: heroes, villains, and many people in-between. The reader will come in contact with the brave defenders of the Cawnpore Entrenchment and learn of their hellish ordeal. The reader will be shocked by accounts of horrific massacres committed by both the Indians and the English. This is a moving story of history and would make an excellent motion picture or mini-series.

This book is extremely difficult to put down once you get into it. Although I knew very little about the history of British India, the author laid sufficient groundwork for any reader to gain an understanding of the situation there as it existed before the 1857 revolts. Even if you know nothing about British India, this book is higly entertaining. It tells a truly harrowing story and gives fascinating insight as to the complex relationship between an imperialist occupying force and a subject people. Ward's writing illuminates the areas of friction and causes of misunderstandings that led to the terrible bloodshed of 1857. I have read many war and history books but I have not read a book that so well described the true sources of animosity between enemies. India in 1857 was a very interesting place and Ward descibes it well. This book can be brutal in describing the butchering of women and children, so be prepared to get a little more "worked up" than you normally are by a history book. It was both hard to put down and disturbing to read. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading history.