Soldier of the Raj

Peshawar was the last outpost of the Raj facing the deadly Khyber Pass and the rugged Afghan hills.

And it was in these hills that trouble was brewing on an unprecedented scale.

The attack would come from a Pathan warrior, Nashkar Ali Khan, incited by the word of the Sadhu, a holy man awaiting the sign of Mahomet to mobilise an army which could sweep down and annihilate Peshawar.

It would be the first step towards driving the British out of the sub-continent.

But if a political officer could be discreetly infiltrated into his camp, what dangers might not be averted?

Working as a spy is a new trade for James Ogilvie, now a captain in the 114th Highlanders, the Queen's Own Royal Strathspeys.

Disguised as an arms seller, he sets out across the Indus to woo his way into the confidence of the Pathans with Gatling parts, Colts, and Mausers.

But Ogilvie is faced with an impossible choice.

He must involve the woman he loves, if he is to save not so much his own skin, as the whole future of the British Raj...

‘Soldier of the Raj' is the next thrilling historical adventure story in the James Ogilvie series.

"His character conflicts are well organised." — Daily Telegraph

"A most exciting successor to his first novel — and it is just as rugged." — The Times, Hamilton, New Zealand

Philip McCutchan (1920-1996) grew up in the naval atmosphere of Portsmouth Dockyard and developed a lifetime's interest in the sea. Military history was an early interest resulting in several fiction books, from amongst his large output, about the British Army and its campaigns, especially in the last 150 years.

Originally published as 'Sadhu on the Mountain Peak'. **