George W. Forrest (1845-1926) was born in India, the son of an army captain who had won the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny. Forrest became an historian and journalist, who also created and ran the Imperial Record Office in Calcutta. He produced many editions of state papers and historical memoirs on governors of India, providing primary material on British India to scholars of imperial history. First published in 1901 on Forrest's retirement to England due to ill health, Sepoy Generals is a study of British generals who played a significant role in India during the nineteenth century. The term 'sepoy general' was coined as an insult to Wellington, the first subject, insinuating that his important military successes in India were insignificant and would not equip him to defeat Napoleon. Forrest's nine subjects spanned the whole nineteenth century, ending with Lord Roberts of Kandahar, who died in 1900.
