given me in the collection of material. They have all asked me not to
mention their names, but to accede to this request would be to rob the
story of the Malakand Field Force of all its bravest deeds and finest
characters.

The book does not pretend to deal with the complications of the
frontier question, nor to present a complete summary of its phases and
features. In the opening chapter I have tried to describe the general
character of the numerous and powerful tribes of the Indian Frontier.
In the last chapter I have attempted to apply the intelligence of a
plain man to the vast mass of expert evidence, which on this subject is
so great that it baffles memory and exhausts patience. The rest is
narrative, and in it I have only desired to show the reader what it
looked like.

As I have not been able to describe in the text all the instances of
conduct and courage which occurred, I have included in an appendix the
official despatches.

The impartial critic will at least admit that I have not insulted the
British public by writing a party pamphlet on a great Imperial
question. I have recorded the facts as they occurred, and the
impressions as they arose, without attempting to make a case against
any person or any policy. Indeed, I fear that assailing none, I may
have offended all. Neutrality may degenerate into an ignominious
isolation. An honest and unprejudiced attempt to discern the truth is
my sole defence, as the good opinion of the reader has been throughout
my chief aspiration, and can be in the end my only support.