An eyewitness account, the book unravels a complex web of relationships which were at play in 1857. Creme dea creme of Indian society was drawn towards the fire of rebellion, someighting it and others dousing. A sufi aristocrat chose to help the British. Despite being co - religionists, the continuum of Islam between him and the rebeleaders of his town failed to halt their grotesque crackdown on each other.