The Seikhs, the last unconquered state in India, and the East India Company are on the brink of war, a war the embroils a man and a woman. Sergeant Major Nelson Mansergh, Bengal Horse Artillery, is given the job of searching the Punjaub for a conspiracy among the company's European soldiers. Julia Bracken, his unrequited love, becomes caught up in his quest for the Cunning Man. Mansergh's search culminates on the battlefield of Feroz'Shah. His journey spans friendship, romance, loyalty and betrayal, exploring the hidden world of the European soldiers who created Britain's Indian empire.