Dust and Steel

by Patrick Mercer

As their ship docked in Bombay, the shocking news of the rising by the Indian mutineers and their massacre of women, children and civilians reached Anthony Morgan and his company.

Even so, they were hardly prepared for what they now faced in this country, so unknown to them, where they found it hard to understand who was friend or foe among the native troops.

In reality, Morgan himself is more interested in another quest.

On discovering that the son he had fathered, his child's mother and her husband, Morgan's old sergeant, are captives up in the hills where the enterprising Rhani of Jansi is building up her force against old comers, he is determined to find a way to rescue them and return them to safety.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical

402 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Born in 1956, Patrick Mercer read History at Oxford University before joining the Army. He commanded his battalion in Bosnia and Canada. Previously receiving a gallantry commendation, he was awarded the OBE in 1997. In 1999, Patrick Mercer accepted a post as the Defence Reporter for the Today Programme. In the 2001 election, he won the Tory seat in Newark. A respected historian, he has already published a non-fiction account of the Inkerman battle during the Crimean War.

Reviews

[Jonathan Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as it's a little later than my period, which I deliberately try to avoid for fear of inadvertant plagiarism.
I was somewhat disappointed to find I didn't really empathise with the main character. That made the book easy to put down; consequently it took four or five days to finish.
Plus it was another officer/sergeant scenario. Yes, I know both are essential for plot reasons, but why don't writers try to add a twist to the relationship? If there was one here it went over my head.
The battle scenes were fine. Couple of minor detail errors which most readers wouldn't notice. But I found the ending a bit flat, considering the time it took to get there.

Only okay.

[Fitzowich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patrick Mercer is very good to excellent on the military stuff and his attention to detail is superb - I had read To Do and Die a few years back and really enjoyed it - the problem I had with Dust and Steel is that I really don't think the characters have been developed enough and the damsel in distress scenario seemed a bit pedestrian and the ending glued on, however saying that there are some great set pieces in the book and I did find it entertaining. I can see myself jumping back in to another Mercer book.

[Marie-Hélène Côté · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ce livre fait écho à la série romaine de Simon Scarrow. Toutefois, je n'ai pas réussi à m'attacher aux personnages principaux avant les dernières pages du livre. Les scènes de batailles étaient intéressantes, mais j'aurais été curieuse d'en apprendre plus sur les détails entourant les motifs des rebelles ainsi que l'impact du système de castes sur les difficultés rencontrées par les Anglais dans leur gestion de ces rébellions.

[Adrian Cotterill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-depicted battles scenes, Mercer drills down to the very fears, emotions and actions of individual soldiers, their camaraderie and their interaction with each other.
He also has the habit of introducing most new chapters with dialogue.
His writing style and military knowledge exude his life as a professional soldier.

[Steve Dempsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good historical story based on the factual elements of the Indian Mutiny. The characters are interesting and the adventures are plausible in the main

[Peter Jochinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced civil war drama centered in India.

[Sheu Quen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was great, as usual, since I recently developed the interest for historical fiction and army-based plots.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

fair enough; I like Patrick Mercer's stuff.