The year is 1834. The place is Kodagu. The event is an invasion. An invasion by British East India Company whose soldiers are making inroads into the little principality from four directions.

The book begins with the reign of the last Raja of Kodagu (which came to be known as Coorg). His self-preserving autocratic deeds lead up to circumstances which bring him into conflict with the Company who are on their rise in South Asia. A fierce but short-lived war ensues between the Company and Coorg. The author takes you on a journey through the pages of the history of Coorg. The modernising times under the British as well as the participation of the people in the Freedom struggle, is also described thereafter. India gains its freedom. Coorg merges with the larger Mysore province. The narration goes on, right until the present-day existence of the Kodagu district within Karnataka in South India.

The small numbered civilian army of Kodagu comprised of farmers who carried arms and with courage. How did they manage to keep the larger well-trained and equipped regular army of the Company at bay in 1834?
How were Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Vinoba Bhave connected to Kodagu?
Why was Pandyanda Belliappa called 'Kodagu's Gandhi'?
What were Kodagu's contributions to India and to Karnataka?
What were the origins of the Jamma Bane issue, regarding the Kodagu farms, and why does it continue?
For solutions to these and more similar questions, read 'Long Ago in Coorg'.