'Don't be mislead into believing that the camel is an evil brute without guts, who lies down and dies just to spite you. I know a lot about the camel, and I know him to be a lion-hearted beast who will not lie down to die until he is dying'. A delightful collection of guidelines for British troops based in India, Lessons in Imperial Rule was first published in the early 1900s. It was addressed to the junior officer serving in Infantry battalions who faced more than 80 years of armed peace and fierce war along the North-West frontier. Despite the later introduction of armoured cars, light tanks and aircraft, Skeen's work has lost none of its value and was recently reissued by the Pakistani Army.
