George Tomkyns Chesney

Sir George Tomkyns Chesney KCB CSI CIE (30 April 1830 – 31 March 1895) was a British Army general, politician, and writer of fiction.

However, he was unsuccessful mainly because of the implacable opposition of General Sir Frederick (later Lord) Roberts, the commander-in-chief of the Indian Army, who contended that the officer posts were "properly reserved for the governing (i.e. British) race".

He also published several novels, including A True Reformer (1873) The Dilemma (1875), The Private Secretary (1881), and The Lesters (1893) although none achieved the popular success of The Battle of Dorking.

[4] On leaving India in 1892, Chesney was elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom as a Conservative Party candidate, as member for Oxford.

[5] Chesney died suddenly of angina pectoris at his residence, 27 Inverness Terrace, London, on 31 March 1895, and was buried at Englefield Green, Surrey, on 5 April.