The Proudest Day: India's Long Road to Independence - Hardcover

Read, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393045943 ISBN 13: 9780393045949

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co., 1998

Synopsis

The Proudest Day is an account of the end of the Raj, the most romantic of all the great empires. Anthony Read and David Fisher put the events of 1947 into perspective, telling the whole story in detail from its beginnings more than a century earlier. Their narrative takes a look at many of the events and personalities involved, especially the three charismatic giants - Ghandi, Nehru, and Jinnah - who dominated the final, increasingly bitter thirty years. Meanwhile, a succession of British politicians and viceroys veered wildly between liberalism and repression until the Raj became a powder keg, wanting only a match.

About this title

Review:

The birth of the Indian National Conference in 1885 served as the formal beginning to India's long struggle to evict the British. When independence finally arrived on August 15, 1947, India soon found itself fighting yet another enemy: itself. Without a solid blueprint from which to draw its own government and infrastructure, India's internal struggles meant enormous suffering for the population. As Anthony Read and David Fisher clearly point out, much of the turmoil resulted from the inability of Indian leaders to work in concert, pitting India and Pakistan against one another before they could even begin to celebrate their freedom. It's evident the authors find much to admire in India, but their even-handed analysis prevents even a touch of the hagiographical; even the failings of the legendary Gandhi are expanded upon. Nehru, Lord Mountbatten, and the Muslim leader Jinnah are also skewered for their poor choices and lack of vision and leadership. In all fairness, the transition to democratic self-rule was no small task, particularly in regard to dealing fairly with the multiple ethnic and religious groups that abound in India, but the authors elaborate on the past sins of the Indian government, because it is within these failings that the true story of modern India is found. These long gazes into the past also help determine what the impact of the current crisis within the Congress Party may be now that Hindu nationalists and religious fundamentalists are in control.

From the Publisher:

A vivid, colourful and fast-paced account of the events leading up to an Indian independence in 1947.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0393045943
• ISBN 13: 9780393045949
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 566