When Pakistan first attacked in September 1965, the main objective of the GOC-in-C of the Western Command, Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh, was not to cede a single square inch of Indian land to the enemy. And despite the valour and strategic brilliance of the Pakistan Army and Air Force, the Indian Armed Forces, through sheer strength of will, emerged triumphant – sometimes even in battles where it first seemed that all was lost.

The Monsoon War is an honest and gritty eye-witness account of the 1965 war, as it happened, retold by two men who fought it. Amarinder Singh, who served as ADC to the man of the moment, Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh; and Lieutenant General Tajindar Shergill, who was then Troop Leader, 1 Troop C Squadron Deccan Horse, and was taken prisoner of war after a forlorn hope tank attack. Their no-holds-barred narrative brings to life the various battles fought, and the human stories of the many brave soldiers who fought for both countries.

A landmark war that witnessed one of world history’s most noteworthy tank battles (the Battle of Phillora), the events of 1965 are remembered as among the most significant victories of the modern Indian Armed Forces. The victory not only served as a morale booster to the nation as a whole, but is also a testament to the leadership of Harbakhsh Singh, who had over the course of the War even implemented an effective solution to the Kashmir territorial dispute. However, over the course of peace talks between the then Indian Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri and President Ayub Khan of Pakistan, many of Harbakhsh Singh’s tactical solutions were waylaid – which is perhaps one of the many reasons why the Kashmir dispute still has the potential to sour the relationship between the two great nations.