Saul David is a military historian at home in the Victorian era. It suits his style and temperament, revealed in a challenging appraisal of the series of wars at the heart of the British Empire. Where the Redcoat trod, he has sturdily followed. The Indian Mutiny, the Zulu War, the Crimea and the Afghan retreat have all been treated with respect and some revisionism.

in The Defence of Lucknow (Greenhill, £19.99), based on T.F. Wilson's memoir, he has lent his authority to one of the principal landmarks of the mutiny that plunged India into brutal chaos following the sepoy revolt over the rumoured use of animal grease cartridges for the new Enfield rifle, which offended their religious beliefs. The battle at Lucknow ranked among the epic sieges of all time.

It was a ferocious fight against the odds as hundreds of determined rebels sought to breach the walls of the residency, where the garrison defended women and children. No quarter was given in the shadow of the massacre at Cawnpore. Staff officer Wilson's narrative reveals how desperate the situation was before relief came to the beleaguered town. In the heat of the day, the British dealt with the mutineers with equal savagery, firing some from the muzzles of cannon.

Greenhill maintains an exceptional reputation for its exploration of military events, from Greek and Roman warfare all the way to the Second World War. Its forte is in the Napoleonic arena, and two new books - From Corunna to Waterloo (£25) by Gareth Glover and Charge! Great Cavalry Charges of the Napoleonic Wars (£14.99) by Digby Smith - maintain the tradition. Glover follows the fortunes of two Hussars who served Wellington in the Iberian Peninsula, bringing a personal focus to the anguished retreat from Corunna in which the British commander Sir John Moore lost his life and the final battle that crushed Napoleon at Waterloo.

Digby, meanwhile, is splendidly descriptive of the cavalry engagements of Napoleon's elite troops where speed and mobility as well as brute force were important elements in the defeat of great swathes of infantry. Further books by Greenhill show the extent of their repertoire, ranging from SAS Zero Hour (£19.99) by Tim Jones, on the origins of the special force and its operations around the world, to The Rifle Story (£19.99) by John Walter, a magnificently detailed history of the weapon throughout history.