Poet Under A Soldier's Hat

100 years of Colonial Rule in British India 1850-1947 through the personal stories of one family. Caught in two World Wars pre Mutiny skirmishes and the Great Sepoy Rebellion the true saga of lives not so pukkha as might be supposed. Hugh Roses back-story exposes child marriage social taboos adulterous affairs over many summers in a Himalayan Hill Station illegitimate pregnancies and banishment to England. More a poet than a soldier Hugh a British Officer of the Raj serves with the 3rd Queen Alexandras Own Gurkha Rifles in the Kyber Pass bordering the Northwest Frontier Afghanistan. Gentlemens sports bandits tribal warlords missionaries ordinary men and ghosts are not enough. Bored Hugh seconds to the Political and Foreign Service in Arabia Persia and Waziristan until disgraced he is invited to return to his regiment after five years. A naked Colonels dictum conformity kills guides Hughs adventurous life. Partition frees both India and Hugh.