A Tale of Two Revolts

‘A discursive, knowing account of two of the nineteenth century’s most harrowing and consequential struggles … the results is a sure-handed idiosyncratic delight.’
Geoffrey Ward, biographer of Franklin D. Roosevelt

Two wars – the 1857 Revolt in India and the American Civil War – seemingly fought for very different reasons, occurred at opposite ends of the globe in the middle of the nineteenth century. But they were both fought in a world still dominated by Great Britain and the battle cry in both conflicts was freedom.

Rajmohan Gandhi brings the drama of both wars to one stage in A Tale of Two Revolts. He deftly reconstructs events from the point of view of William Howard Russell – an Irishman who was also perhaps the world’s first war correspondent – and uncovers significant connections between the histories of the United States, Britain and India. The result is a tale of two revolts, three countries and one century.

Scholarly, insightful, and gripping. A Tale of Two Revolts raises new questions about these wars that changed the world.

RAJMOHAN GANDHI is a former Parliamentarian in India and currently teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of several books, including Gandhi: The Man, His People and The Empire.

Read Rajmohan’s interview with Gowri Ramnarayan here.

Read Rajmohan’s interview with the Hindustan Times here.

Listen to Rajmohan talk about A Tale of Two Revolts on BookTV here.