
Liberty or Death by Patrick French
'A remarkable achievement' Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph 'Brilliant!There can be no doubt that Patrick French is the most impressive Western historian of modern India currently at work' Frank McLynn, Glasgow Herald 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. Using a compelling mixture of scholarship, travel and personal narrative, Patrick French offers a radical 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 fascinating tale of idealism and manipulation, hope and tragedy. With sources ranging from newly declassified secret documents to the memories of refugees, Patrick French gives a riveting account of an epic debacle, the impact of which reverberates across Asia to this day.
From the reviews of Liberty or Death: 'A huge, crowded and kaleidoscopic canvas, which the author handles with remarkable authorityIt 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
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.
SKU | Unavailable |
ISBN 13 | 9780006550457 |
ISBN 10 | 0006550452 |
Title | Liberty or Death |
Author | Patrick French |
Condition | Unavailable |
Binding Type | Paperback |
Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
Year published | 1998-05-05 |
Number of pages | 352 |
Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
Note | Unavailable |