W D Arnold

Oakfield W D Arnold

This edition is a Cameron Collectible (www.cameron-collectibles.blogspot.co.uk) Oakfield is what would have once been called and Anglo-Indian novel. The main hero, Edward Oakfield, travels to India in the mid-1800s as a soldier, after leaving Oxford having taken his degree. The story is about one man's struggle to understand himself, the world, and his vocation. The action takes place against the background of the two Sikh wars during the last years of 'John Company' rule before the Indian mutiny. However, perhaps the novel's primary interest, especially to students of the Victorian era, is how Oakfield deals with the question of how to be a Christian in the world, but not of it. The first volume traces Oakfield's arrival in India, his settling into army life, and how his determination not to be dragged down by his companions' behaviour leads to his arrest and subsequent trial. The author, William Arnold, was a younger son of Dr. Thomas Arnold and the one who most closely resembled him in character. William Arnold spent a number of years in India, first as a soldier and later as a civil servant, promoting education throughout India.