"Their Infantry And Guns Will Astonish You" - By Andy Copestake - Book Review

INT, COMMERCIAL PUB - DAY

Andy and Andrew sitting supping pints of Consett Ale Works Pale Ale whilst admiring the Christmas 1972 aesthetic (but not paying Christmas 1972 beer prices...)

ANDY

How much do you know about India, late 18th early 19th Century?

ANDREW

Not that much. Welly was there, long before he became Welly.

ANDY

And before then? What about the events that led up to Welly having a bit of a do at Assaye?

ANDREW

Nope, not a clue.

ANDY

Ah! Right then. Read Dalrymple's "The Anarchy" to get a handle on India from the perspective of the East India Company. Finished it? Good. Now, remember me telling you I was writing a book...?

FADE TO BLACK

This is a (loose) dramatisation of a conversation, based on real events, that leads us neatly onto my review of Andy Copestake's first book, "Their Infantry And Guns Will Astonish You" - The Army of Hindustan and European Mercenaries in Maratha Service 1780-1803. Having known Andy well over twenty years (the poor sod), I was looking forward to his first publication and gratefully received a copy when we met up for our first assembly of the Tantobie Wargaming and Tactical Society since February 2020. Full disclosure, I received my copy free of charge but have not discussed my thoughts on the book with him, nor has he evaluated or had any influence on the review you are about to read. All opinions are my own and he didn't even try to bribe me with a nice bottle of single malt... the rotter! 

Joking aside, what we have here is another fine addition to the Reason to Revolution Series from Helion & Co. A touch over 200 pages in length, there are many fine illustrations and maps, whilst the colour plates detailing the flags, standards and uniforms are detailed and accompanied with some great descriptive text. 

As for the text itself, you really do get a handle on the author's voice very quickly. The tome begins with a chapter on the state of India in the 18th Century, followed by a thorough walkthrough of the military forces deployed by the various factions. An introduction to Benoit de Boigne follows and then we are into the core of the topic - the Army of Hindustan. From the tale of its founding and first campaigns, to the retirement of de Boigne and his replacement by Perron, there is a real love of the subject on display here. The descriptions of forces and battles are well written, there are enough maps and diagrams to clearly detail the action that occurs and there is a hint of humour every now and again adding colour to the text. Similarly, the author has written a well-balanced narrative that gives every participant a fair hearing with no "national" bias.

There is a detour through the Widow's War, and George Thomas's extraordinary run that reads like a Victorian novel. The Civil War in the Maratha Confederacy is extremely interesting, especially for someone like myself with little background in the subject. The different houses, the alliances, the drama, murder... Best way I can describe it (in a very deliberately glib manner) is EastEnders meets Dune... 

That is a very accusatory expression...

The back third of the book concerns itself with the last years of the Army of Hindustan, the campaigns in the Deccan and Hindustan, with a closing chapter on what happened next to all concerned. There are appendices detailing the officers of the Army of Hindustan and a list of other Trained Brigades in India from 1752 to 1805. Then there is the biography...

Where there are discrepancies in the historical record or where there are conflicting reports, the author has used his knowledge of the period and contemporary practices to give an educated guess as to the size of forces and the actions that may have been taken. These are backed up with the reasons for his assertations and there are many a footnote referencing both modern and contemporary sources. Indeed, that bibliography takes up two and a third pages with very small text. The research for this book certainly threw out a wide net.

Before reading Dalrymple's "The Anarchy", I knew little of Indian history beyond the general British-centric stuff that always seems to be trotted out. I'm currently reading his "The Last Mughal" which, like "The Anarchy," is an even-handed telling of history. In that respect, Andy has written something very similar: a well-balanced and informative tome on a niche subject that has received little focused attention. There is plenty of colour to the tale and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Not only is this a worthy historical text on the subject matter, it is of great resource to those who wish to bring the period to a wargaming table. 

Their Infantry And Guns Will Astonish You is available directly from Helion & Co here or via the usual bookshops/online retailers if you order it in.