With Clive in India; Or, The Beginnings of an Empire

A determined sixteen‑year‑old boy, Charlie Marryat, stands at the crossroads of loss and ambition. With his father’s death leaving the family penniless, he must choose a path that could lift his mother and sisters from poverty. His restless energy, honed in schoolyard races and fights, drives him toward a future far beyond the quiet streets of Yarmouth.

When opportunity arrives in the form of a commission to India, Charlie is thrust into a world where the French still hold Madras and the Nawab of Bengal threatens British footholds. Amid the swirling politics and looming battles of the mid‑eighteenth century, he witnesses the early clashes that will shape an empire. Through vivid, historically grounded scenes, the story follows his growth from a headstrong youth to a participant in the dramatic rise of British power in the subcontinent.