The Broken Road

The Broken Road is a 1907 novel of adventure and romance by A. E. W. Mason, set in India during the period of British rule. It first appeared in serial form in The Cornhill Magazine. As a result of the book's publication, the British Government abolished a regulation that had prevented soldiers of the British Indian Army, no matter how valorous, from being eligible to receive the Victoria Cross.

Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (1865 – 1948) was an English author and politician. He is best remembered for his 1902 novel of courage and cowardice in wartime, The Four Feathers, and is also known as the creator of Inspector Hanaud, a French detective who was an early template for Agatha Christie's famous Hercule Poirot.

His prolific output in short stories and novels were frequently made and remade into films during his lifetime; though many of the silent versions have been lost or forgotten, the productions of Fire Over England (1937) and The Four Feathers (1939) remain enduring classics of British cinema.