George W Forrest – författare

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.

The historian George W. Forrest (1846-1926) pays tribute to the legacy of Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859) by bringing his writings together in this 1884 publication, which begins with a account of Elphinstone's life and the historical events connected with his career, providing important background information and context for the reader. Forrest provides a fascinating insight into Elphinstone's opinions on some of the leading questions connected with the government of British India. The statesman played a pivotal role in founding the system of state education in India, strongly supporting native education and the local administration of laws. As Forrest describes, he brought 'a liberal and highly cultivated mind' to discussions of Indian problems, and he saw the British task in India as equipping Indians for self-government as quickly as possible. This collection documents his challenges and achievements, and is an important historical record of a turning point in Indian history.