Name: The Great Partition
ISBN: 9780300120783

Yasmin Khan

Examines the context, execution and aftermath of partition, integrating the knowledge of political manoeuvres with an understanding of their fundamental social and cultural consequences. This account draws together a body of research to reappraise independence and division and reinforce its catastrophic human cost.

The Making of India and Pakistan

The Great Partition

Apurva Chitnis

Summary in three sentences:
* The animosity today between India and Pakistan can be traced back to their tumultuous birth in 1947.
* However, the violence of partition (1M dead and 13M refugees uprooted from their ancestral homelands) wasn't inevitable: it is a result of a rushed independence (only 72 days!), nationalistic fearmongering along religious lines, and lack of military support during the split.
* Finally, all parties are to blame: the British Raj, and both Congress and the Muslim League (the political parties of India and Pakistan respectively).

This is the first "proper" history book I've read for some time. It's very dense and definitely not intended for the casual reader (😅), but I learnt a huge amount through reading the early chapters and skimming later ones.

However, I do wish the author went into more historical detail about the underlying causes of animosity between the Muslim League and Congress, Nehru, Ghandi and Jinnah, and Hindu and Muslim communities, as these seem to be amongst the more important trends pre-WWII. This important background is sorely lacking and would have helped create a more cohesive narrative.

The Great Partition The Making of India and Pakistan

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