Described as 'a masterpiece' by critics, this remarkable book tells the story of war through the lives and deaths of a single family. Absolutely unforgettable new writing. If you loved The English Patient or Rohinton Mistry's Fine Balance or Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers, you will love this book. Three young men gazed at him from silver-framed photographs in his grandmother's house, 'beheld but not noticed, as angels are in a frieze full of mortal strugglers'. They had all been in the Second World War, a fact that surprised him. Indians had never figured in his idea of the war, nor the war in his idea of India - and he thought that he had a good idea of both. One of them, Bobby, even looked a bit like him, but Raghu Karnad had not noticed until he was the same age as they were in their photo-frames. Then he learned about the Parsi boy from the sleepy south Indian coast, so eager to follow his brothers-in-law into the colonial forces and onto the front line.

Manek, dashing and confident, was a pilot with India's fledgling air force; gentle Ganny became an army doctor in the arid North-West Frontier. Bobby's pursuit would carry him as far as the deserts of Iraq and the green hell of the Burma battlefront. The years 1939-45 might be the most revered, deplored and replayed in modern history. Yet India's extraordinary role has been concealed, from itself and from the world. In riveting prose, Karnad retrieves the story of a single family - a story of love, rebellion, loyalty and uncertainty - and with it, the greatest revelation that is India's Second World War. Farthest Field narrates the lost epic of India's war, in which the largest volunteer army in history fought for the British Empire, even as its countrymen fought to be free of it. It carries us from Madras to Peshawar, Egypt to Burma - unfolding the saga of a young family amazed by their swiftly changing world and swept up in its violence. Gold title * In the tradition of 'Hare with the Amber Eyes' (TCM 90k) and 'The English Patient' (TCM 60k), 'Farthest Field' is a powerful story of family and war.

It marks the debut of a remarkable new prize-contending writeR. * Raghu's essay describing the origins of this book was runner up for the FT-Bodley Head Essay Competition and was described by judge Simon Schama, as "nothing short of brilliant". More of Raghu's work here: www.porterfolio.net/raghu.karnad * For fans not just of Max Hastings, but also Michael Ondaatje, Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy' and 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' (TCM 60k). We expect lead review coverage across the media and appearances from the author at all key literary festivals. * This book rescues a lost history.

Indians post-Independence did not want to know about the 2m men who volunteered to fight 'Britain's' war. Yet it was the largest volunteer force the world has ever known. The history of these men is rendered here in an exquisite but tragic family story and in writing that redefines the literary potential of nonfiction. * Raghu's essay on Japanese POWs held during WW2 in Delhi's Old Fort will be published by Granta in an edition devoted to Indian writers - due out January 2015 to coincide with Jaipur Literary Festival, where Raghu is a regular.