Dr Michael Creese is a retired head teacher and educational consultant with a lifelong interest in military history and uniforms. His interest in the Indian Army was sparked by a visit, at the age of eleven, to an exhibition of model soldiers at Hamleys in 1947. He now has his own collection of model soldiers, which naturally includes a strong Indian contingent. His doctoral thesis at the University of Leicester focused on the Indian officers in four cavalry regiments, drawing on material in Britain and India. The scope of this thesis has been widened in the present volume to include infantry officers together with a broad history of the Indian Army. He has also written Swords Trembling in their Scabbards: The Changing Status of Indian Officers in the Indian Army 1757-1947 (War and Military Culture in South Asia, 1757-1947). Retirement has allowed him the opportunity to extend his research, and he has spent time in Jodhpur meeting descendants and former members of the regiment and listening to their reminiscences of the legendary Jodhpur Lancers.
