January, 1914.
They had suffered at the hands of the Raj; now they were being asked to die in its name…
Reinforcing all that Prince Krishna Ram admires about Britain, in Warren Bateman it seems the Ravi Lancers have a decent commanding officer.
A professional soldier, when the Rajah’s heir volunteers the Ravi Lancers to accompany the Indian forces destined for Europe, it is Bateman who guides their path.
In the opening months of the First World War, the fields of Flanders could not have been a tougher proving ground for them.
But battle affects men in different ways, and while the bloody carnage draws Krishna ever closer to his men, Bateman retreats behind rigid military patriotism.
As they slowly forge themselves from a prince’s private army into a unit as effective as any regulars on the front line, Bateman tramples over their customs and traditions.
A clash with Krishna is inevitable…
In the trenches far from home, the tear between allegiance to their own ancient deities and their debt to an alien god of war starts to cause a wound deeper than any man-made weapon.
Dying for a cause not their own, every man of the Ravi Lancers faces the ultimate choice: who do they follow?
Making their fateful choice, the consequences for all will be severe… nothing will be the same again.
‘The Ravi Lancers’ is an epic story of India’s soldiers abroad.
John Masters (1914-83) was born in Calcutta. Educated at Wellington and Sandhurst, he returned to India in 1934 to join the Gurkha Rifles. In 1944 he commanded a brigade of Chindits in Burma. Retiring from the army in 1948, Masters then went to America, where he wrote several short stories and a series of novels set in British India.
They had suffered at the hands of the Raj; now they were being asked to die in its name…
Reinforcing all that Prince Krishna Ram admires about Britain, in Warren Bateman it seems the Ravi Lancers have a decent commanding officer.
A professional soldier, when the Rajah’s heir volunteers the Ravi Lancers to accompany the Indian forces destined for Europe, it is Bateman who guides their path.
In the opening months of the First World War, the fields of Flanders could not have been a tougher proving ground for them.
But battle affects men in different ways, and while the bloody carnage draws Krishna ever closer to his men, Bateman retreats behind rigid military patriotism.
As they slowly forge themselves from a prince’s private army into a unit as effective as any regulars on the front line, Bateman tramples over their customs and traditions.
A clash with Krishna is inevitable…
In the trenches far from home, the tear between allegiance to their own ancient deities and their debt to an alien god of war starts to cause a wound deeper than any man-made weapon.
Dying for a cause not their own, every man of the Ravi Lancers faces the ultimate choice: who do they follow?
Making their fateful choice, the consequences for all will be severe… nothing will be the same again.
‘The Ravi Lancers’ is an epic story of India’s soldiers abroad.
John Masters (1914-83) was born in Calcutta. Educated at Wellington and Sandhurst, he returned to India in 1934 to join the Gurkha Rifles. In 1944 he commanded a brigade of Chindits in Burma. Retiring from the army in 1948, Masters then went to America, where he wrote several short stories and a series of novels set in British India.
