Book Review: ‘The Siege of Delhi’ written by. Amarpal Singh.

This book has a detailed account of the events leading to the uprising of 1857 in India by the sepoys of the army of the British East India Company. An elaborate narrative of the British attempt to re-occupy Delhi by a small, but well disciplined force is chronicled in the book along with the strategy and challenges faced by them to suppress the uprising comprising of numerically superior rebel troops.

The book has poignant details of how both Europeans and Indians faced each other’s retribution and how savagely humans can retaliate against each other during times of war. The book concludes by giving an account of how the landscape of the city of Delhi, built by the Great Mughals was forever changed.

The book has been written in an unbiased manner and has accurate, historical information to support the narrative. There is no hidden agenda in the book which may blame any community or race for the horrendous deeds committed by the rebels or the barbaric atrocities inculcated by the victors on the general population of the city. The facts are presented in a narrative which is lucid, interesting and non-judgemental to the reader.

This is a must read book for anyone interested in learning about one of the most important events of the Indian history and how it paved way for the ultimate rule of the British crown for the next 90 years.

Amarpal Singh is the author of two books:

The First Anglo Sikh War

The Second Anglo Sikh War