This six-volume History of the Indian Mutiny was first produced in 1890 by Colonel George Malleson (1825–1898), who combined Sir John Kaye's History of the Sepoy War in India with his own later work. Kaye (1814–1876) was a prolific writer of biography and history who started the Calcutta Review in 1844. His use of first-hand evidence, collected from personal and professional contacts, supports (perhaps predictably) his assertion that the rebellion is a story of British 'national character', and the narrative is illustrated with biographical and personal anecdotes. Malleson's contributions however are derived from his controversial 'Red Pamphlet' (1857) and other writings, in which he is unafraid to criticise or praise British troops and administration as the occasion demands. Volume 1 contains the first three books, covering introductory remarks on political, military and religious history; a description of the Sepoy army; and the outbreak of the Mutiny.
