Sahib, the British Soldier in India 1750-1914

I listened to a podcast by military historian Richard Holmes, who examines Indian soldiering in peace and war. He addresses the experience of ordinary soldiers, whether soldiers of fortune, East India Company or regular army, why they joined up, how they got to India and what they made of it when they arrived.

This is a recording of a lecture at The National Archives, and the content makes it well worth listening to. There's not much relevance to Canada and Britain, except that almost everyone has some connection to the British Raj. Some of the regiments who served in India also served in Canada before Confederation.

TNA will would be well advised to put a bit more effort into the technology. The sound is awful, it sounded as if the speaker was too close to the microphone. I would have liked to see the slides too.