Table of Contents
Maps viii
Prologue xiii
Part 1 Home
1 Everybody's Friend: Calicut, 1936-39 3
2 HukmHai: Madras, 1939-40 14
3 Savages of the Stone Age: Miranshah, November 1941 29
4 The Centre of the World: Madras, February 1942 43
5 Madras Must Not Burn: April 1942 55
6 Things Sacred Between Us: Mhow, August 1942 65
7 Do or Die: Thai, August-October 1942 69
8 The King's Own: Roorkee, August-December 1942 81
Part 2 West
9 Second Field: Baghdad, March 1943 97
10 The Jemadars' Story: Eritrea and Libya, 1940-41 105
11 The Lieutenant's Story: El Alamein, July-November 1942 118
12 Kings of Persia: Baghdad, April 1943 126
Part 3 East
13 Enter the Hurricane: Imphal, May 1943 139
14 No Heroes: Madras, May-June 1943 147
15 Fascines and Gabions: Calcutta, October 1943 156
16 The Jungle Book; Arakan, December 1943-March 1944 170
17 Fight with Your Ghost: Kohima and Jotsoma, April 1944 183
18 The Cremation Ground: Kohima, April 1944 196
19 The Elephant: Tiddim Road, June-October 1944 207
20 The Road Ahead: Madras, November 1945 220
Epilogue 227
Afterword 233
Acknowledgements 245
Notes 249
Appendix 1 Timeline 275
Appendix 2 The Indian Army 281
Select Bibliography 287
Index 295