Adrian Greenwood (1973–2016)

Superb, detailed biography of the long military career of Colin Campbell, 1792-1863. Lord Clyde, as he became latterly, saw action in the Peninsular War, under Wellington, and served in Canada, the West Indies, Ireland, India and China, before the pinnacle of his career in the Crimea (at the battles of Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol) and during the Indian Mutiny, as commander-in-chief in India, culminating in the relief of Lucknow (not once but twice). Starting out as an Ensign (2nd Lt. after 1871) and rising to Field Marshall, it in an enthralling account, not only of derring-do and the narrow margin between victory and defeat, but the logistics, tactics and politics of military action in the Victorian era. Although I have read other accounts of the Mutiny and especially the relief of Lucknow, this book takes it all to another level, which I found absorbing.… (meer)