Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire - Softcover

Alex Von Tunzelmann

4.08

4,525 ratings by Goodreads

9781416522256: Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416522255 ISBN 13: 9781416522256

Publisher: Pocket Books, 2008

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The stroke of midnight on 15 August 1947 liberated 400 million Indians from the British Empire. One of the defining moments of world history had been brought about by a tiny number of people, including Jawaharlal Nehru, the fiery prime minister-to-be; Gandhi, the mystical figure who enthralled a nation; and Louis and Edwina Mountbatten, the glamorous but unlikely couple who had been dispatched to get Britain out of India without delay. Within hours of the midnight chimes, however, the two new nations of India and Pakistan would descend into anarchy and terror. INDIAN SUMMER depicts the epic sweep of events that ripped apart the greatest empire the world has ever seen, and reveals the secrets of the most powerful players on the world stage: the Cold War conspiracies, the private deals, and the intense and clandestine love affair between the wife of the last viceroy and the first prime minister of free India. With wit, insight and a sharp eye for detail, Alex von Tunzelmann relates how a handful of people changed the world for ever.

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Review:

""Indian Summer" is a true tour de force: absorbing in its detail and masterly in the broad sweep of its canvas."--Sir Martin Gilbert, author of "The Somme"

""Indian Summer" is outstandingly vivid and authoritative. Alex von Tunzelmann brings a lively new voice to narrative history-writing."--Victoria Glendinning, author of "Leonard Woolf
"
"Alex von Tunzelmann is a wonderful historian, as learned as she is shrewd. But she is also something more unexpected: a writer with a wit and an eye for character that Evelyn Waugh would surely have admired."--Tom Holland, author of" Rubicon" and" Persian Fire
"
"An engaging, controversial, very lively and, at times, refreshingly irreverent tour de force. Alex von Tunzelmann has written a dramatic story, laced with tragedy and farce, and done so very well; a remarkable debut."--Lawrence James, author of" The Middle Class: A History" and "Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India
"

"A brilliantly vivid page-turner that captures the backstage dramas raging on the eve of India's independence."--Tina Brown
"Irreistible . . . A fascinating book that may well change how we look on the benighted world in which we live today."--"Los Angeles Times"
"[A] captivating group portrait, pulling forth the most telling details of each figure's inner life. . . . To have turned an era of such significance and continuing relevance into a page-turner, to both entertain and educate, is an an admirable accomplishment."--"San Francisco Chronicle" "A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the breakup of British rule in India."--NPR's "Fresh Air""""
""[Von Tunzelmann] keeps us riveted. . . . [She] has a fine knack for teasing out the play of personality in momentous events."--"Houston Chronicle"
"Von Tunzelman is witty, erudite, and thoughtful about her subject. . . . An oppinionated and sardonic writer, [she] is perfectly willing to take on both saints

"A brilliantly vivid page-turner that captures the backstage dramas raging on the eve of India's independence."--Tina Brown
"Irreistible . . . A fascinating book that may well change how we look on the benighted world in which we live today."--"Los Angeles Times"
"[A] captivating group portrait, pulling forth the most telling details of each figure's inner life. . . . To have turned an era of such significance and continuing relevance into a page-turner, to both entertain and educate, is an an admirable accomplishment."--"San Francisco Chronicle" "A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the breakup of British rule in India."--NPR's "Fresh Air""""
""[Von Tunzelmann] keeps us riveted. . . . [She] has a fine knack for teasing out the play of personality in momentous events."--"Houston Chronicle"
"Von Tunzelman is witty, erudite, and thoughtful about her subject. . . . An oppinionated and sardonic writer, [she] is perfectly willing to take on both saints and heroes."--"The C

From the Back Cover:

Advance praise for INDIAN SUMMER

`Indian Summer is a true tour de force: absorbing in its detail and masterly in the broad sweep of its canvas' SIR MARTIN GILBERT

`An engaging, controversial, very lively and, at times, refreshingly irreverent tour de force. Alex von Tunzelmann has written a dramatic story, laced with tragedy and farce, and done so very well. A remarkable debut' LAWRENCE JAMES, author of Raj: The Making of British India

`The partition of India and Pakistan is one of the key moments of the twentieth century, involving as it did the forced migration and massacre of untold numbers of people. Then as now, controversy dogged the issue and the main personalities, especially the last Viceroy of India, Lord Louis Mountbatten. Alex von Tunzelmann has produced a superb account of an event that still has the power to shock; her lucid and even-handed narrative guides us safely through the excitements and complexities of the period' TREVOR ROYLE, author of The Last Days of the Raj

`Alex von Tunzelmann is a wonderful historian, as learned as she is shrewd. But she is also something more unexpected: a writer with a wit and an eye for character that Evelyn Waugh would surely have admired' TOM HOLLAND

`Indian Summer is outstandingly vivid and authoritative. Alex von Tunzelmann brings a lively new voice to narrative history-writing' VICTORIA GLENDINNING

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