This is quite a brilliant book. This is one of those books that i read without stopping. Much of the material was familiar to me. However, it was really good to see his masterly rendition of the events leading up to the partition of India. It is indeed sad that we have to live, today, with the results of the ambitions of one dozen men and women. For this, millions have suffered, but this is the way of history. I was surprised to see Gandhi come in for so much criticism, and I was glad to see this. Great man though he was, normally he is painted with a brush that is overly white. This book brought about a good balance to the view that I had of him. Also, to have such a detailed account of how Jinnah negotiated. The speed with which the Partition was finally negotiated was a big surprise to me.

I am glad that he did not fall over himself to praise the Gandhi clan. I have long been a critic of the family, and I am glad I was not all wrong. The events after Nehru have been packed into too few pages, and there is not much analysis of recent events. This is my only carp about the book.

All in all, a magnificent book. A great book, and surprisingly readable, for someone to read if they want to know how India became India.

he leaves us with a great question: how will we shape our National Identity in the years that will follow? This is a question for the younger generation to answer, and for us to guide them well ( )