Brigadier Samir Bhattacharya was born in Lucknow and was educated at St Vincent's School, Pune. He entered the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla in June 1955 and passed out as a Second Lieutenant from The Indian Military Academy Dehradun in December 1959. Commissioned in the Jammu and Kashmir Rifle Regiment, he saw action against the Chinese in 1962 and against the Pakistanis in 1965. Post graduate in Defence Studies from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow. As infantry officer served in active field areas along the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir for nearly two decades. He commanded 1st Battalion Jammu and Kashmir Rifles (Raghupartap) in the active Poonch Sector and as Brigade Commander 161 Infantry Brigade in the strategic Hajipir - Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir. He also served as senior instructor at the Indian Army's War College, Mhow, and was Commandant Jammu and Kashmir Rifles Regimental Centre at Jabalpur. His last posting was as Deputy General Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Area was in Mumbai and from where he retired in January 1993. From 1993-97 he served as Chief Security Advisor, Bank of India and thereafter from 1998-2006 worked as consultant and advisor to Piaggio Vehicles Ltd, an Italian multinational. He has travelled widely across Europe, erstwhile Soviet Union, Bangladesh and the United States of America. He is fond of reading history, and biographies of eminent world leaders, and has also visited a large number of libraries both in India and abroad to carry out research on this book.