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

Patrick French (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998

At midnight on August 14, 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Without a sharp focus, authors tackle the history of modern India at their peril. French, whose first book, Younghusband, won the 1995 Somerset Maugham Award, tries to do a bit too much. It's difficult to uncover new ground in the well-spaded turf of Indian independence. French is not the first to see Gandhi as a crank obsessed with bowel functions, Winston Churchill as a racist and the 1947 British exit strategy as a case of muddling through. He does, however, succeed at filling in some gaps, especially about British intelligence operations. French (who ran for Britain's parliament as a Green candidate and is currently director of the Free Tibet Campaign) nagged the Foreign Office to declassify 92 "bottle-green boxes" of files, and his analysis reveals a dying Raj under severe financial stress held together by undercover operations. Although his criticisms of Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre's Freedom at Midnight are unlikely to dethrone that classic, he argues persuasively that the authors swallowed an elderly Lord Mountbatten's egocentric recollections and inaccurately made the creation of Pakistan a cliff-hanger dependent on the health of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Noteworthy also are glimpses of various British viceroys, perspectives on the amalgamation of the princely states into the nation and an update on the increasing adulation in India of Axis ally Subhas Chandra Bose. French's travel notes and wit leaven the narrative somewhat, but many readers will find that this demanding journey covers too much territory too quickly.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

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

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0006550452
• ISBN-13: 978-0006550457
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #908,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Patrick French's Liberty or Death, March 24, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division (Paperback)

It is often difficult to find a balanced, informative, and fun-to-read history book, but French has hit the target with Liberty or Death. This book is well-researched and very fun to read, but I don't recommend this for leisurely reading. It is at times a little dense, but once sorted out, the information becomes very clear.

Now, I originally chose this book for an introduction to my school Research Paper topic, which quite clearly, was the road to India's independence and division. Ultimately, I actually used several of French's arguments to support my theses. French is often very perceptive and critical of many pivotal events in India during the early twentieth century. In fact, he does a very good job weaving through many events (including the Amritsar Massacre, Satyagraha, Cripps Mission, Wavell, Churchill's attitude towards India, British Intelligence, Cabinet Delegation, Post-independence effects, etc.) without making it exceedingly boring or very superficial. He has also complied some very useful quotes that he uses throughout the book.

I'll admit - it was a little scary to pick up a 300+ page book about a topic I could read about from Encarta, but it was sure worth it. French has not only educated me, but he has actually made me think and reflect on some of the most critical decisions in Indian history.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Little controversial but mostly balanced and well researched, November 5, 2002

By 

Nasser Khan (Jamesville, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division (Paperback)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A biased perspective, November 27, 2011

By 

T. R. Santhanakrishnan "trsfmly" (Chennai, Tamil Nadu India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division (Paperback)

This book by UK politician Patrick French is junk.

Two examples:

One, the author says India's independence movement would not have worked under Stalin's Russia since Gandhi/Nehru would have been summarily executed. By this logic, Britain would not have had magna carta if Attila the Hun was its King at Runnymede!

Two, the author says that a few "volunteers" and not Pakistan Army invaded Kashmir in 1948. Is this still in dispute? Really? So passe.

Unfortunately I bought Patrick French's 2010 book on India last week; allegedly a history of a billion people. Now, am apprehensive. What is the focus this time? Two billion arm pits?