Understanding Indian Partition has never been easy for the Indians born and brought up under the New Education Policy of 1986, under which the treatment of Partition has been wishy-washy at best and guarded at its worst.
A recent book by Alex von Tunzelmann, a new Oxford historian called Indian Summer is so far the finest, non-partisan insightful treatment of 1947 that I 've read so far. People who know me know that understanding the time between 3rd June 1947 (when Partition was announced by Mountbatten) and 15th August 1947 has been close to an obsession for me and hence I've seen various treatments of those times. The best of times, the worst of times...
A nation emerged out of a cauldron of violence, mis-trust and skulduggery, protected by vision, effort and a remarkable group of people who balanced each other out.
von Tunzelmann understands and delineates the social and political fabric of the time and role of each of the players and brings out the roles played by each of the major characters, including that of Edwina, often overlooked by other designation-obsessed historians.
Highly recommended...
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