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Title: Liberty or Death - India's Journey to Independence and Division by Patrick French ISBN: 0-00-655045-2 Publisher: Flamingo Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.8 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Road to Partition
Comment: "Liberty or Death" is the story of how India achieved independence and the results of Partition. This account concentrates heavily on the war years (World War Two) and details of how Partition happened.
It is an acerbic take on the latter days of the Raj, with none of the politicians involved (Indian or British) coming out of it particularly well. French tries to tear away the myths surrounding the major players on both sides. Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah are examined as politicians, not saints, Wavell and Mountbatten's roles are reassessed. What comes over most strikingly is how poor an appreciation of India's contribution to the war effort and Indian politics prevailed in London: attitudes were at their worst racist or romantic - Churchill comes over very badly. Many politicians and civil servants in London were attempting to define British policy in India without first-hand knowledge of the country (apparently in one case, knowledge of Kipling's novels was considered sufficient).
It only forms a small part of French's account, but the true nature of the Raj came to light when the British Exchequer began paying for the Indian Army rather than the Indian taxpayer bearing the load. The cost of Empire then became too heavy. At the end of the war, Britain was hugely in debt to India. Yet, as French points out, India's politicians were themselves complicit in the Raj - it could not have survived so long if that had not been the case - and they were complicit in the manner in which the Raj ended and in Partition. Partition then, was not solely a tragedy inflicted on India by the parting British: to a large extent it was a tragedy of India's own making. The very fact that India's politicians had a interest in fostering the disintegration of British authority meant that civil peace could not be easily re-established upon their departure. This begs the question of course of whether the British would have departed had their authority been maintained. I think that they would, but later than 1947.
"Liberty or Death", for all its very interesting sections, also has strange bits. Early on and in the last section, French's personal experiences of travelling in modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are interspersed with the historical narrative. I suppose this is an attempt to fast-forward and illustrate on lasting legacy of Partition. Then accounts of the role of the British secret service in India are scattered throughout: I thought these were of doubtful relevance to the main narrative - almost as if French felt that having got access to these data he had to use them somehow.
Nonetheless, and enjoyable and iconoclastic view.
G Rodgers
Rating: 4
Summary: Little controversial but mostly balanced and well researched
Comment: I had mostly read history of partition of India taught in school in Pakistan which was really a one sided version all along. By accessing some newly declassified archives and throughly researshing his main charracters and events Mr. French has written a very readable account of Indian partition. I get the feeling he is neutral. Admirers of Ghandi, Jinnah, Patel and Azad may not like what they read. Nehru, Liaqat Ali Khan and Bose fare better. Mountbatten was biased towards Congress and Nehru, he should have been neutral. Chruchill was almost a villan and hated Indian leaders. Most of the English masters made bad decisions which has hurt both the countries in the long run. This book however tells us that leaders from both Congress and Muslim League were party to all the controversial decisions that were made that lead to the partition and to a very bloody aftermath in which nearly a million people died.
I agree with another reviewer that the author should have written in the end about the feelings and condition of millions of Indian Muslims who chose not to migrate to Pakistan.
Rating: 3
Summary: Resourceful Book for India's Enthusiast
Comment: Definitely not a travelling book but a scholarly book looking in-depth into the independence of India & its divisions into India proper & Pakistan, & subsequent split of West Pakistan & East Pakistan into present day Pakistan & Bangladesh. As William Darymple wrote his books via his encounter with common people, Patrick French tended to concentrate more of his effort in researching the archives. For me, it required more effort to absorb this book than Darymple's, which were always entertaining. But it doesn't detract from the fact that Patrick is a resourceful author & he successfully investigated few characters that played pivotal roles in the independence of India, both English & Indians included. The myth about Ghandi was brought down to earth, Bose was hailed as a hero despite his involvement with the Axis power for his nationalist attitude, Nehru as a moderate politician in contrast with Patel who had tremendous hatred for the Muslims, Jinna for his involvement with the Muslim League & his deep distrust of the Congress, Wavell for being an unsung hero who had contributed much to India's independence, Radcliffe for partitioning India accordingly with Wavell's initial plan down to the letter, Mountbatten's role for keeping the peace in India during those turbulent time after the independence. There were also discussions about the Calcutta Massacre, The Partition, the absorption of other kingdoms into India (some of them by force) & the unresolved issued about Kashmir, etc. To summarise succinctly, what Indians got in the end wasn't Liberty OR Death, but Both of them. The country is still divided by race & religion after all these years. This book is a reminder of how lucky we all are for living in the environment, which we are not judged by the colour of our skin, the race that we belong to, but the content of our characters. Only then, there's this slightest chance the world would become boundaryless and all of us would live in peace and harmony.
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Title: The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene ISBN: 0375412883 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 10 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
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