May 24, 2007 10:26 PM
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The book Freedom at Midnight is written by Dominique Lapierre & Larry Collins. Though the original edition of the book was published in 1975, what we read was the new edition published in 1997. The non-fiction book describes the events happened in the last year of the British India i.e. 1947-48.The book starts with the appointment of Lord Mountbatten as the last viceroy of British India , covering Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology of non-violence , partition of India & Pakistan , its aftermath & concludes with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
At one hand the book brilliantly depicts the heartbreak suffered by the British on losing their crowning glory “India” and the joy of millions of Indians on obtaining the freedom on the other.Freedom at Midnight shows the well organised research and scanning done by the authors as it’s basically based on numerous personal interviews with the people of significance. To an extent the book seems to be pro-Mountbatten and even shows prominent figures like Gandhi, Nehru & Jinnah through Mountbatten’s eyes. The book also effectively conveys Gandhi as a great politician & true socialist, living among the poor & helping them.
The narrative style of the book is unfussy and it seems as if a motion picture is screened in front of our eyes. One with no or little knowledge about Indian Independence can get a comprehensive account of it as it also cleared some of my misconceptions and equipped me with proper knowledge. The book is not one of those boring, lengthy book though it looks like one.To me, it was worth Rs. 220 I paid for it.
