General John Jacob: commandant of the Sind irregular horse and founder of Jacobabad

On the burning edge of the Sind desert, an obscure outpost became Jacobabad and a cavalry corps became a legend. One man remade a frontier. General John Jacob's story captures the hard nerve and restless imagination that shaped 19th century British India at its margins. Alexander Innes Shand's John Jacob biography is at once a vivid British military biography book and a profound colonial India history book. Following Jacob's rise in the East India Company army and his long command of the Sind Irregular Horse, Shand shows how frontier warfare in Sind intertwined with road-building, irrigation, and experiments in local governance under British rule in Sind. The narrative opens up the world of irregular cavalry, desert marches, and political intrigue that foreshadowed later North West Frontier campaigns and much Great Game frontier history. It stands as a key source for Sind Irregular Horse history as well as a penetrating portrait of a soldier-administrator who founded Jacobabad and fought to redefine imperial frontier policy. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure. Essential reading for military history readers and colonial history students, this careful modern edition speaks both to those discovering the period for the first time and to collectors seeking an authoritative, character-driven classic of British rule in India's far west.