Overview

At midnight on 14 August 1947, Britain's 350-year-old Indian Empire cracked into three pieces. The greatest mass migration in history began, as Muslims fled north and Hindus fled south, over a million being massacred on the way. Britain's role as world power came to an end and the course of Asia's future was irrevocably set. Patrick French offers a reinterpretation of the events surrounding India's independence and partition, including the disastrous mistakes made by politicians and the bizarre reasoning behind many of their decisions. Exploring the interplay between characters such as Churchill, Mountbatten and Gandhi, it reveals a tale of idealism and manipulation, hope and tragedy. With sources ranging from newly declassified secret documents to the memories of refugees, Patrick French gives an account of an epic debacle, the impact of which reverberates across Asia to this day.

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9780006550457

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Reviews

From the reviews of Liberty or Death: 'A huge, crowded and kaleidoscopic canvas, which the author handles with remarkable authority. It is also enormous fun to read' Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph 'Well-researched, beautifully written and immensely scholarly' Andrew Roberts, Sunday Times 'Delightful...quite hilarious' Swapan Dasgupta, India Today

From the reviews of Liberty or Death: 'A huge, crowded and kaleidoscopic canvas, which the author handles with remarkable authority. It is also enormous fun to read' Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph 'Well-researched, beautifully written and immensely scholarly' Andrew Roberts, Sunday Times 'Delightful! quite hilarious' Swapan Dasgupta, India Today

Author Information

Patrick French studied English and American literature at Edinburgh. His first book, Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer, won the 1995 Somerset Maugham Award and the Royal Society of Literature Heinemann Prize. He lives in Dorset.

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