The continuum of tactical victory followed by strategic failure has been the baneful pattern of India’s handling of vital security related issues since Independence. Kargil: Blood on the Snow is a comprehensive military analysis, focusing on this issue. It is a forthright and compelling look at the military aspects of the ongoing struggle for Kashmir, with a penetrating historical insight even into the causes of Partition itself. Since the Kashmir issue remains a live one, it deserves careful attention. The Kargil war of 1999 has been India’s first televised war. It aroused strong and widespread feelings of dismay as to how the security apparatus, particularly the Army, failed in preventing such an occurrence. This book provides some answers as to why an overall impression of a cover-up still lingers. It also takes a look at the human face of warfare in the high Himalayas, and provides an insight into the psyche and spiritual make-up of the Indian soldier in combat. This study will be of considerable interest to defence strategists, political scientists, historians, media professionals as well as the lay person. About the Author Major General Ashok Kalyan Verma, avsm, was commissioned in the Rajput Regiment in June 1956. He commanded the 18th Battalion during the 1971 war and was mentioned-in-despatches for his role in the battle of Akhaura. He commanded a brigade in Ladakh and the prestigious 26 Infantry Division in J&K. He was earlier a staff officer in the Military Wing of the Cabinet Secretariat, and Brigadier-in-Charge Administration in Jalandhar during 1984-5. He was later in charge of Operation Logistics at Army Headquarters as a Major General. While at College of Combat, Mhow, during 1988-90 he was associated with the conduct of map exercises and war games at the highest levels in an academic environment. He was Colonel of the Rajput Regiment from 1986 until his retirement in November 1991. General Verma was also the author of Rivers of Silence which deals with battles of Nam Ka Chu during 1962 and the dash to Dhaka from Tripura in the Bangladesh war of 1971.