Bullet up the Grand Trunk Road

The Grand Trunk Road stretches 1,600 miles across the Indian Subcontinent from Calcutta to the North West frontier. Kipling described the road as ‘such a river of life as exists nowhere else in the world’. Jonathan Gregson takes an Indian made Enfield Bullet on a humorous and controversial journey that delves deeply into the history of the road.

He takes you back to the time of the moguls and brings you to current times. He has descriptively used the ages and the marks of generations to comprehensively bring to life a world that is usually only discovered by in depth research, and by lengthy personal experience. When you read this book you will discover true wealth in unexpected ways and will glean an understanding of current times that will frequently surprise you.

You don’t need to like the thought of riding an Enfield, but you’ll see that Jonathan makes a unique connection with the continent, via the bike. This goes far further down the road of discovery than his childhood years in India should have allowed; the bike eases him into situations he would have been highly unlikely to get into in any other way. The fact that it’s a Bullet opens doors into parts of the journey that would have been closed to others. It also allows him to escape from some very hairy situations in a decidedly unexpected fashion; in India the Bullet has the reputation of being the steed of assassins and therefore a rider commands instant respect!

If you have been to India and Pakistan, memories aplenty will be triggered by this book. If you are planning a trip, the tale will set you off with a far greater understanding and feeling for this unique area of the world; it can only add to your own voyage of discovery.

This is not a boys own ripping good yarn, but is highly recommended as a read you can expect to both entertain and educate you. The pages will transport you to another world in an adventure that’s spiced with the scent of hot engine oil, life and death moments a plenty and appreciation of the frequently quirky sides of life on the Grand Trunk Road.

Review by Sam Manicom

ISBN 1-85619-660-7 £12.99 Sinclair-Stevenson ‘Random House’