The novels of J. G. Farrell are important texts dealing with the decline of the British Empire. Farrell's novel "Troubles", set during the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921), is the first instalment in Farrell's "Empire Trilogy", preceding "The Siege of Krishnapur" and "The Singapore Grip", all written during the 1970s. Although there are similar themes within the three novels (most notably that of the British Empire), they do not form a sequence of storytelling. "The Siege of Krishnapur" was inspired by events such as the sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow, and details the siege of a fictional Indian town, Krishnapur, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 from the perspective of the city's British residents. "The Singapore Grip" is satirical book about events following Japan's entry into the Second World War and occupation of Singapore. The story centres on a British family who own one of the colony's leading trading companies.