First edition; 8vo; half red morocco over red cloth; five raised bands, title gilt to the second panel, top edge gilt. Folding frontispiece ("Plan of the Entrenched Position of the British Garrison at Lucknow 1857"). The Defence of Lucknow is a memoir of 1857, when sepoy troops rose up. The insurrection was one of the bloodiest in the British Empire's history. Staff Officer Wilson gives an extraordinary account of the residency compound siege in Lucknow, 300 miles south-east of Delhi. This account of the Indian Rebellion has been described as one of the finest war diaries ever written. A fine copy with a pencil ownership inscription to front free end paper.