by Duane Spurlock
"And how many of the people struggling to understand what they perceive as the unprecedented crimes of Osama bin Laden remember or have even heard of the Mahdi?"
- Brooke Allen, "G. A. Henty & the Vision of Empire," The New Criterion Vol. 20, No. 8, April 2002
http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/20/apr02/henty.htm
"The Soul of a Regiment" is one of Talbot Mundy's best-known stories. Originally published in the February 1912 issue of Adventure, it may be his most-reprinted short story. (As of this writing, it is available for reading online at two sites: The R.U.R.itanian Muglug site at http://www.geocities.com/ruritanian_muglug/mundy.html, and the Black Mask site at http://www.blackmask.com/books52c/soulreg.htm.)
A story of loyalty, of valor, of determination, "The Soul of a Regiment" describes the often thankless efforts made by British soldiers on campaign and the horrendous situations in which they could find themselves. And although the story is about the British military in the 1880s, its narrative has resounded with readers so greatly over the years because soldiers of any country and time can identify with its characters' devotion to duty in the face of dire crisis.
This article provides a brief historical background to "The Soul of a Regiment" and some sources to which interested readers can look for further information. While Mundy's tale is entertaining all on its own, knowing its historical context lends even greater power to the tale. Click here to read the rest of this article.
Posted by ds at June 11, 2003 12:25 PM
