Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division

Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division by PATRICK FRENCH. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780002557719.

At midnight on August 14, 1947, Britains 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. Britains role as world power came to an end and the course of Asias future was irrevocably set. Patrick French offers a reinterpretation of the events surrounding Indias 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.