Positioning itself within the global/comparative history approach, this volume studies the evolution of modern warfare in the subcontinent. It begins at c. 1740s when a European army for the first time defeated the feudal cavalry army of an Indian prince and carries the story of development of warfare till recent times. Synthesizing archival records and published literature, this volume forms an exercise in the 'New Military History writing'. It eschews narrative chronological accounts and focuses on the interaction between military bureaucracy, technology, and society.

Kaushik Roy underlines the inter-connections between technology, military thought, field operations, and the organizational apparatus of the war machines. He investigates the dialectical relationship between war and state in the subcontinent and links up with the current debates in international military history. Well illustrated, the volume has 30 line drawings and 40 photographs.