In this biography Rodney Atwood details the life of General Lord Rawlinson of Trent (1864-1925), a distinguished British soldier serving in the Victorian colonial wars in Burma, the Sudan and South Africa. His career provides a lens through which to examine British imperial history from the late-19th to early-20th century in India, Burma, the Sudan, during the First World War and into the post-war world.

In the South African War (1899-1902) Rawlinson's ideas instrumentally aided the defence of Ladysmith, and he distinguished himself leading a mobile column in the guerrilla war. In the First World War he held an important command in most of the British Expeditionary Force's battles on the Western Front. He bears a heavy part-responsibility for the disastrous first day of the Somme, but later employed successful tactics inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. His Western Front career culminated in a series of victories beginning at Amiens. He commanded the Indian Army between 1920 and 1925 at a time of military and political tension following the 3rd Afghan War and the Amritsar Massacre. He introduced necessary reforms and began commissioning Indians to replace British officers.

Drawing extensively on archival material including Rawlinson's own engagingly-written letters and diaries, this thorough examination of his life will be of great interest to those studying British imperial history, military history and the First World War.