Stupendous book. Review on Freedom At Midnight - Dominique Lapierre

“Freedom At Midnight”, the title itself was so engaging as well as awakening that it instantly caught my attention in the bookstore. Automatically, as guided by some inner force, I picked the book and let my inquisitive mind devour it. Now after reading and reading it, I want to share my views on the book with you.

I feel that this book is the best book ever written on our freedom struggle in a very precise and concise manner. “Freedom at Midnight” written by Dominique Lapierre in collaboration with Larry Collins is a very good representative of the most important and haunting aspect of our freedom –the partition and its dire consequences. The writes don’t seem to be biased and see a truthful picture from the eyes of a third person. There are enough reasons to believe the genuineness of the book as the thoughts and events depicted in the book are based on numerous personal interviews with the people of significance. Before penning the book Dominique and Collins have had carefully searched the relevant material.

This classic book provides an insight the lives of our great leaders and emphasizes over the philosophy and ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, the preacher of non-violence. .Dominique , an American ,realizes and respects the ideologies of Gandhi and puts him on the same plane with Christ and Buddha.

The description of events and people is beautifully varietable. The account of meetings between Mountbatten and our national leaders is eye-opening and sometimes shocking. Be it Nehru, Jinnah or Patel , Dominique spares none. Writer has also given a detailed and vivid account of the eccentric maharajas and nawabs of pre-independence India. The facts of our freedom fight are depicted skillfully by the pen of a master craftsman.

This breathtaking book by the writer of “City Of Joy” is a must read. I would say that every Indian should go through it to get an unprejudiced account of his country’s history.