This book received some nice reviews and with quotes like this:

Uncovering the hard facts behind the myths and conjectures of popular belief, nationalist rhetoric and cinematic imagination, this book provides, for the first time, a credible portrait of Mangal Pandey as he really was.

I was interested in getting hold of a copy and reading through. Needless to say, it has been a huge letdown. Stating absolutely nothing about the character Mangal Pandey, it fails to provide inputs on his role in the Great Mutiny. What it does is tickle and tease around with the idea as to whether Mangal Pandey as the forebearer of the Mutiny was a figment of British ingenuity. Given the dearth of historical material on Mangal Pandey, the aura around him is fictionalised in a large way. If you are looking for some insights on the man that was Mangal Pandey – this is not the book for you.

On a side note… Sayamindu writes about the first day of the Indic Meet. Interesting to note that Satish gave a keynote address titled: Localisation – Challenges and Satish Mohan 🙂