An outpost of the British Empire comes under siege during the Great Mutiny of 1857. In the midst of astonishing violence and increasing deprivation and suffering, the men and women of the British Raj find their very ideals and way of life under siege, as rationalism and science wrestle with spirituality and conscience, and the civilised forms of living, including the roles of women and their sense of decorum and honour are gradually abraded. Yet few seem to realise or comprehend the forces at work, their belief and faith in their natural superiority so absolute that they hardly notice or question the source of their physical danger. Conscious of their appearances and roles and responsibilities, the idea of something outside of them seems beyond their comprehension. Staggeringly good, though as in Troubles, it rather pointedly does not presume to attempt to create a native point of view, but the limited perceptions of the ruling British speak volumes.