'Silk and Steel' book review: A historical adventure showcasing the impact of colonialism
They make a unique combination. James Webley is erratic but meticulously explores his options, while his closest mate Augustine is a romantic at heart, and embraces every whim fearlessly. But when these two brave men are together on the battle ground, it makes for an uncanny team that’s difficult to defeat. Yet fate has something else in store for them as they dream of defeating the Britishers and taking over kingdoms.
In Stephen Alter’s Silk and Steel, Webley and Augustine take us through the enchanting era of courtesans and mercenaries, bringing to pages a bygone era of battles. Webley, a former captain in the esteemed army of the Gaekwad of Baroda, has made the audacious decision to abandon his life of order and become a notorious bandit. His only mission in life is to defeat the English, but then his erraticism isn’t what can lead his soldiers to victory. So, he has Colonel Augustine by his side, who seems to worship the floor Webley treads upon.
Augustine supports his leader and best friend unconditionally, never abandoning him, even when he is explicitly asked to. Augustine has a lineage that is as exotic as his name, binding in it the intriguing story of Bibbi Charlotte—known as Charlotte Knowles in an earlier life—and his father Trisuldas Thakur of Chittoor, whose life was marked by the battles he won.
The conflict within a young Augustine was whether to identify himself as a Rajput or as his mother taught him, “better than a Rajput”. The one thing his parents had in common was honour and bravery, besides vanity, which was passed on to Augustine in abundance. When his parents are mercilessly killed by the English, he vows to drive them out of the country.
A desire so intense that he is ready to go to any extent to fulfil it and devises a devious plan to regenerate Webley’s flagging spirits against the British. He employs the service of the fascinating Kasturba, his unrequited love, but fails to anticipate that his scheme had only one ending—a gripping and disastrous climax.
It’s a book straight out of Alter’s heart. An award-winning author, naturalist and conservationist, he has spent his life reading, writing and travelling the length and breadth of India. He has written close to 20 books, and deploys storytelling that is devoid of frills. He presents a deep understanding of human experiences, the longing for identity, and how culture shapes different people living in the same era.
Be it Augustine’s deep desire to be a brave Rajput or Webley’s need to show the British he is better off without them, the search for belonging is unilateral.
In Silk and Steel, Alter sets his multi-dimensional characters within the historical context, presenting the impact of colonialism and unfulfilled ambitions. It’s a historical adventure where a powerful eunuch, a love-struck prostitute, an ambitious half-brother, a naturalist, Sikh and Muslim armies all have their own battles to fight. Even though the pace of the first half is slow, with attention being lavished on character building, the narrative gathers momentum in the second half, making up for lost time. Alter’s Silk and Steel was first published in 1980 by Andre Deutsch, and then by Penguin Books in 1983, and now it is presented by Aleph Book Company in 2024. Even four decades later, this action-packed adventure tale with battles, betrayals and forbidden romance, will be of great interest to the present-day reader.
Silk and Steel
By: Stephen Alter
Publisher: Aleph
Pages: 338
Price: Rs 499