Military life began at an early age in Victorian times; Richard Fortescue Purvis was a midshipman in the Royal Navy at age 11; and by age 15; he was an officer in the Bengal Army. For all of Purvis' 17-year career; Indian units were officially under the East India Company and not controlled by the British government; but the drill; tactics and traditions of the British Army were closely followed. The major campaign in which Purvis served was the Nepal War; which pitted British and Indian forces against the tough Gurkha mountaineers; who were later recruited into British service. Purvis eventually returned to his homeland and pursued a career as a Church of England country parson. This detailed study of a young officer in India at the time of the Napoleonic Wars was made possible by the recent discovery of an extensive collection of previously unpublished contemporary letters. In addition to active duty there is a great deal of detail on daily life and attitudes among the British in India. A young man's career at the time was heavily dependent on patronage and Purvis has left behind a candid account of how this system worked.
#3026016 in Books Osprey Publishing 1992-01-30 1992-01-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.50 x .30 x 7.10l; .40 #File Name: 085045347X48 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Robert GagneNice3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. So much to cover; so little space...By Marc SchaftenaarThe problem is that this book tries to cover a period which was extremely turbulent for the Netherlands: the Napoleonic period had great influence on Dutch history; since the Netherlands saw 1 revolution; 3 changes in government and 1 annexation (and 1 war of Liberation)in just 20 years. This means that the uniforms for the armies of the United Provinces; Batavian Republic; Kingdom Holland; the French Empire; the Netherlands in the War of Liberation and the Kingdom of the Netherlands are a vast subject to discuss; and it simply doesn't fit into one Osprey volume. The book by R. Pawly and P. Courcelle; "Wellingtons' Dutch Allies"; covers one period and is a lot better. To do justice to this period would be the addition of a volume on the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom Holland. This book simply is too minimal; and it has too many mistakes; since all clich?'s are summed up (again).3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. 1815-1823 mistakesBy Raymond UppelschotenThis book has mistakes. It means to describe the uniforms during the Napoleontic Wars; i.e. in the Dutch-Belgian case Quatre-Bras and Waterloo. But in fact its uniforms are based on the ones described in a 1823 Dutch book by Teupken. Therefore the information is about 8 years too late. Between 1815 and 1823 there were over 200 uniform changes for the Dutch soldiers and officers. The book might be OK for some uniforms but keep this in mind. I have studied the engineers uniform and it WRONG in this book.
