Nightrunners of Bengal

By: John Masters

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Paperback | 11 May 2000

At a Glance

Paperback
368 Pages

Edition Type
New edition

Dimensions(cm)
19.6 x 13.0 x 2.7

Paperback

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First published in 1951, The Nightrunners of Bengal is one of John Masters' series of seven novels which followed several generations of the Savage family serving in the British Army in India. Nightrunners of Bengal focuses on the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The central character, Captain Rodney Savage, is an officer in a Bengal Native Infantry regiment, based in the fictional city of Bhowani. When rebellion breaks out, the British community in Bengal is shattered. Savage's empathy for the Indians is shaken, as the British try to discover who is loyal to them and who is not. One of the great novels of India, Nightrunners of Bengal combines John Master's mastery of story-telling with an intuitive sense of history. This was the first novel that Masters wrote in the series, though not the first novel chronologically, and alongside Bhowani Junction is one of his best-known works.

Industry Reviews

Masters's reputation as a master storyteller specializing in historical subjects was crowned by this powerful drama of the Indian mutiny, first published in 1951 (only four years after the end of the Raj). On New Year's Eve 1856, Captain Rodney Savage of the 13th Rifles, Bengal Native Infantry finds his celebrations interrupted by the news of a crisis that will have grim implications: in the native state of Kishanpur, the Rajah has been assassinated, and 35 of the culprits have been garrotted. The British are obliged to send troops to protect the Rani (responsible for the garrottings), ensuring both her safety and that of her young son. Savage is a complex, well-drawn protagonist, trying to deal with an impossible situation for which he has not been prepared. While this is a powerful yarn that never fails to dispense Masters's customary pungent historical detail, it also deals with serious issues: personal responsibility, the ruthlessness necessary in war and (most acutely) the dangers of an insularity that makes little attempt to understand other societies. Novels set in this milieu come thick and fast these days, but few have tackled the subject as authoritatively as Masters. Nightrunners of Bengal remains as compulsively readable as any of its modern rivals. (Kirkus UK)

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