The gates of Kunarja: An "Ogilvie" novel,

James Ogilvie #4

by Duncan MacNeil

The North-West Frontier. 1897. A quiet life is a mixed blessing for the British Army, for in slackness lies the seeds of disaster. When the volatile Jarar Mahommad seizes the British Resident and his family hostage at Kunarja, Ogilvie's battalion are ordered to march through the Khyber Pass to their relief - falling neatly into the chieftain's trap as the gates of Kunarja close behind them. Now, Ogilvie and his sepoy company must return carrying Jara Mahommad's terms to Peshawar. A perilous mission when a regiment's survival depends on his success, but even more so when he is responsible for the safe conduct of the British Resident, his daughter and ailing wife through a hostile pass where countless British lives have already been laid down for the Raj...

Genres: India, Military Fiction, Historical Fiction

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

A pseudonym used by Philip McCutchan

Reviews

[Bob Cantrell]

A good story

I have to confess right off that I like stories about the British Army in India. Think it has to do with Rudyard Kipling's stories of India that I read as a kid. When I came across this story, I thought maybe this would he worth a look. Well I was right it had the elements of a good adventure. First a likeable protagonist in James Ogilvie, a semi-pompous regimental colonel, a damsel in distress, and let us not forget the fierce tribal warriors of the Frontier. The main plot of the story is a rescue mission to save a British consul and his family. As often happens in stories like this thing don't go as planned. There are a couple of subplots in the story one dealing with murder and the other with a man's sexual preferences. Now one thing that this story does it is touch on the issue of homosexuality in late 19th Century Great Britain when you could get jailed for your sexual partners and how it was looked on in society and the military. It doesn't take a side on the issue it just shows how it was viewed. So you have the British Raj, a brief look at the societal mores of the time and the good name of the service in a fast paced story that is a slice of the British Empire.

[Lloyd]

This is an old fashioned adventure novel featuring heroes and villains, bravery, cowardice, duty and honor. It takes place on the northwest frontier of colonial India in circa 1890. India is the crown jewel in the British Colonial empire, and the British Army is in the northwest frontier to keep the peace with native Afghan tribes across the Khyber Pass. This book is the fourth in a series of adventures featuring James Ogilvie, a graduate of Britian’s military academy at Sandhurst. He is now a lieutenant in the British Army in India. In this story, a British cost cutting effort resulted in decision to eliminate a subsidy that was being paid to an Afghan tribe to keep them peaceful. A small contingent of the British Amry was sent thru the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan to inform the Afghan tribal leaders of this new policy. James Ogilvie was with the army contingent going into Afghanistan. The Afghan tribe reacted poorly to this cancellation, and all the British soldiers were taken as hostages by the Afghans to ensure that the subsidy would be reinstated. A subset of these hostages, including James Ogilvie, was released to go back through the Pass into India and present the tribe’s ransom demands to the Brits. These passages through the Khyber Pass were always dangerous due to marauding unaligned tribes and bandits. Plus, these passages were undertaken during the winter months with freezing temperatures and blizzards adding to the danger. So, it is quite a rousing adventure and a challenging task. Stress was added to this mission because a young British woman accompanied this ransom informing army group. She is the daughter of the British representative (like an ambassador) to the Afghan tribes. Many hardships had to be overcome to complete this trip back into India. Many members of this mission died in the process. This adventure story has plenty of action, suspense and violence along with a potential scandal brewing to keep the reader turning the pages.

[Jack Sakalauskas]

This is episode four in the James Ogilvie series. In this episode, the story confronts the subject of homosexuality in the British army and the stigma attached to it. Throughout the whole book, it is the underlying story with a sad ending.
It starts of with Ogilvie getting away from crawling over dead bodies to take up teaching native recruits. Even then he still ends up at the Khyber Pass with snipers and skirmishers, outnumbered and fighting his way out. A good story with not as much blood and gore as usual.

[Brian]

Exceptionally Well Written.......

The series continues on with yet another exciting and adventurous story involving the dreaded Kyber Pass, the British Army and the unwritten promise of enemy snipers. I will not spoil the read for you. The action is extremely tense, and..... well read it for your self as you will NOT be disappointed !

[Donald]

McCutchan writes very good historical novels and this series is exciting, action filled & an excellent read. Well researched cultural & geographical aspects are included to make this a very good read!

[Mike Hedley]

I never finished this book. It was written in the 70s, and the language and social mores would have seemed out of date even then (especially then!). It was just too hard to stomach the flummery prose and stultifying plot.

About the only thing in McCutchan's favour was that he tackled a tricky subject, namely homosexuality, but then the part I gave up in disgust was when the "hero" had to protect a pretty young lady from a fellow officer, who earlier on had been caught at it with one of the younger sepoys! McCutchan's point? Not sure, maybe if I'd finished the book I'd have found out that the gay guy was really straight and a hero to boot. Or maybe not. Maybe the author thinks gay men are just naturally depraved?