The Savage Empire: Wars of the 19th Century - Tapa dura

This text, a sequel to "Massacre and Retribution", recounts the darker side of some of the forgotten colonial wars. These include the Opium War (1839-42) - which shamed Britain and was fought to maintain the opium trade. Thousands died as British technology and warships hammered Chinese warriors on land and at sea; the Persian War (1856-57) - an epic march in foul conditions. A tremendous cavalry charge and a swift victory were features of this campaign on Persian soil fought to maintain the balance of interests which kept Russia out of India; and the Arrow or Second Chinese War (1856-60) - the seizure of a small craft sparked a conflict which saw the attempted mass poisoning of Britons in Hong Kong, the slaughter of British soldiers bogged down in mudflats, the murder of diplomats under a white flag, the winning of seven VCs in a single engagment and the destruction of the Summer Palace. Also explored is the Benin Massacre (1897) - wherein the murder of an unarmed British mission by a fetish king who practised human sacrifice led to terrible retribution as an expeditionary force used machine guns to bloody effect. These are some of the stories from Britain's colonial past which Ian Hernon reappraises. His narrative is interspersed with eyewitness accounts of the events described and with line drawings and illustrations from the "Illustrated London News".