Sir George Tomkyns Chesney, a much-decorated army officer, government administrator, accomplished writer, and politician, was concerned for most of his professional life with military and administrative reform in both England and India. His commitment to such reform resulted from his having worked in various government departments in India and from his experiences as a front-line officer with the royal (late Bengal) engineers. He fought and was wounded in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and this experience, which formed the colorful backdrop for the events presented in his most successful novel, enabled him to witness firsthand the inefficiencies of the British military establishment.

The youngest of four sons, Chesney was born on 30 April 1830 at Tiverton, Devon, into a highly regarded military family of Irish origin. His father, Capt. Charles Cornwallis Chesney of the Bengal artillery, died in 1830. Also involved in army reform was George Chesney's brother Col. Charles Cornwallis Chesney...