After his father's death, Charlie Marryat, along with his friend Peters,
joins the East India Company as a clerk and travels to Madras, India.
There, they meet Robert Clive, an ambitious young man who had
successfully quelled many a mutiny and gone from being a clerk to an
able military leader. Bored of their mundane work, Charlie and Peters
decide to enlist under Clive as private soldiers in the fight against
the Dutch and the French. Their lives take a complete turn as they
participate in several exciting battles and form lasting bonds with
their fellow soldiers. But does Clive manage to defeat the determined
French? And how does Charlie deal with the various dangers in India,
including pirates, tigers and the Black Hole of Calcutta, not to mention
the epic Battle of Plassey?