Freedom at Midnight

Rating:
Summary: Good read as fiction, very poorly researched
Review: Collins and Lapierre are among the most overrated historical writers of all time. The writing of "Freedom at Midnight" is good and the text is interesting, and in my opinion they would do quite well writing fiction. One would think given the pages and pages of references at the back that this is a thoroughly researched book, but this is a good instance of how statistics can lie.

Here are some of the big errors I found in the book:

1. The biggest whopper is that Messrs. Godse and Sawarkar enjoyed a homosexual relationship. Nobody who knows even an iota of the facts from any other sources will believe this -- all I could do was shake my head and smile at this preposterous claim, which incidentally does not even provide a reference.

2. The life of the maharajas chapter - all lies. The reference for this whole chapter is a book written by an Englishman who wanted to impress people back home. It is akin to claiming a "Wild West" account as fact.

3. There is no RSSS. The organization is RSS, Swayamsevak is one word. This just smacks of poor research. I doubt the writers have even looked at the covers of some of the books they have claimed as references.

4. Many place and people names are badly misspelled. There is no Pavel in Bombay for instance. The place name is Parel, and it is not a high income locality. In fact, it has a huge factory workers' colony.

I found several more, and am sure still many more exist in the book -- I am just a typical Indian, no historian or anything like that. Although this book is very interesting, I wish I had not read it and would not recommend it to anyone who wants genuine knowledge about India. Whatever I knew of the book's subject is now mixed up with the book's lies, so I don't even know what is true or not anymore. Surely, false information is worse than no information at all.

Rating:
Summary: The best FICTIONAL view on India's freedom.
Review: I grew up in India being taught in schools about the god-like characteristics of leaders like Nehru. But this book offers a very thought provoking viewpoint on the people who played the major roles in the historic drama that ended the British Raj. This book is co-authored by an American and a French and it is definitely a result of a lot of research. It is written as a fiction rather than a historic documentary. The authors have gone to great lengths in describing each character and scene in great depth.

There are still some limitations that I see about this book. This book was published in 1975. The only major character alive when the authors were doing research for the book was Lord Mountbatten and he is the one they have extensively interviewed. I suspect the authors might have been unintentionally (or otherwise) influenced by a lot of Mountbatten's views. Mountbatten has been portrayed as the perfect human being who became the saviour of India. Gandhi whom Mountbatten apparently held in high regards is portrayed as a saint. And, Jinnah whom Mountbatten evidently disliked is a villain of sort (This book was banned in Pakistan because of that). I am not disputing these views. They sound accurate from what we know about these people now. But, I am just wondering if the authors had gotten an opportunity to interview Jinnah at length (provided the "cold" Jinnah would have opened up), would the story look different ?

But, since this is not written as a documentary, but as a fiction, I guess the authors have the freedom to wander a bit. Because of the same reason, I would recommend against treating this book as a historical guide. I have heard many people arguing about Indian independence basing their argument on what they read in this book. I am not sure if this book is reliable enough to form opinions based on.

And, one word for the over-patriotic Indians who would argue that this book is biased and who keep blaming the British for everything (Jalian Wal Bagh is their favorite topic), this book's story focuses on India's independence from British, not India's occupation by British. The story begins in beginning of 1947 when Mountbatten was assigned to be India's last viceroy and ends at the death of Gandhi in Jan 1948. The story of occupation is another story. For a few days, unremember everything you learned in school and read this from a neutral point of view. For average reader who wouldn't have the patience to dwell into history books, this is as neutral as it can be. The more history-oriented folks should read some real history books.

Rating:
Summary: A Biased presentation of Indian History
Review: I have finished reading this book few days back and still wondering that I read a history book or a fiction novel. I must say that this book was quite an interesting read. I've spent most of my life in India and know its history quite well. Though I picked this book for just another good read but it left a sour taste by the end. I can't help thinking the biased picture being presented to the people who are not aware of the Indian histroy very well. Authors have certainly try to project an image for Britishers emphasizing their reluctance to give away India but not mentioning the exploitation done to Indians for 400 years. Readers are made to believe that British gave up India as mother sends her child abroad for higher studies. Page after page it describes about the blessing that British Raj proved to be for India. I think they could not avoid talking about Jallianwaala bagh tragedy but they did make it a point to blame it on a single person and remove any possibility of it symbolizing the general attitude of raj towards Indians. They couldn't risk writing anything against Gandhi but they glorified Mountbatten as the war hero of all times and put Gandhi assassins in the most pathetic description. .....

Rating:
Summary: Flawed but fascinating
Review: I thought this book was fascinating. It's somewhat biased, the writing is a bit melodramatic, and it does hold the British in perhaps undue esteem. At the same time, it also manages to present an extraordinarily complex and relevant set of events in a totally engaging way. For me, it gave necessary context to a time in history that I only knew about anecdotally. It covers Indian independence from a great number of angles, only some of which I may have otherwise encountered: British, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, prince, Untouchable, refugee, pro-Gandhi, anti-Gandhi, etc.

All in all, while you have to live with a few flaws, it was an illuminating read that I would recommend without reservation. (And, the biggest bonus: I can now list out all the forms of the word "viceroy", including vicereine, viceroyalty, and viceregal.)

Rating:
Summary: Very well researched but prejudiced
Review: The book starts with a very impressive history into how the British first entered India and gives some startling facts, hitherto, unknown to me about the Indian history. Besides narrating the tale of Indian freedom struggle, the book does give good and well researched details of the structure of India, the time of Maharajas, an account of her various provinces like the Punjab and Bengal, some of the mythological explanations for the beliefs of her people etc. But I must say all the good work put into the extensive research and an effort to write the book as a legendary piece of literature about India, go waste, when a knowledgeable Indian finds biased facts, an effort to glorify English by presenting only the facts which do so, an attempt to justify everything done by British by concealing the atrocities brought about by them during their so-called Raj in India and by skipping very conviniently any virtues of Indian masses despite the difficulties before them, their accomplishments and virtually anything besides the facts such as their squatting habits, religious extremisms, being ignorant, illiterate and incompetent. By the end of the book, the reader is left with a great impression of the Englishmen and especially Louise Mountbatten and an aversion towards India and Indians. Indians are, and were at the time of the freedom, much more competent, intelligent, resourceful, advanced and civilized than as depicted in the book, surely not to forget the fact that there are still many people in Indian masses who really do need more education and exposure. But it could be made a more just book by presenting both the sides, instead of just the negative one.

Rating:
Summary: Get a copy .. won't disappoint you
Review: The first time I read this book was years ago when I was in Graduate school, and since then I have taken out and read my copy frequently, at times to breeze through a chapter or a reference point, but twice to read it cover to cover all over again.

Setting out at the point when (a reluctant) Lord Mountbatten is assigned the task of dismembering the empire from its proudest colonial possession, the book proceeds to delve deep into the principal characters involved in one of the most remarkable events in human history. Through a combination of exquisite prose, meticulous research and skillful narrative, Collins and Lapierre brings to life these men and women, who with their life's work played out an irrevocable part first in the subjugation and subsequently, centuries later, to the liberation of millions in the sub-continent.

Portrayed thus in those highly textured and vivid images are the personalities of Mahatma Gandhi, breathtakingly simple in philosophy and excruciatingly complex in what he does; Jawaharlal Nehru, loyalties divided between his affection for the Mahatma and (what he considered) pragmatic solutions for India's problems; Sardar Patel, the man who many consider the "real hero"; Jinnah, unscrupulous and unflinching in his demand for Pakistan; and Mountbatten, flamboyant, savoir-faire, and as the authors would have us believe, ever empathetic towards India. (This last part being driven in at times with a bit too much fervour to the liking of many who look at it from the East's perspective). Added in good measures, in deference to the west's fascination perhaps, are revealing accounts of the Maharajas and their larger than life existences with their elephants and their harems. Significant no of pages are also devoted to the run-up to the Mahatma's assassination, and the people involved in this act.

To the authors credit, the book makes no pretences of being a historic commentary on the Indian Freedom Struggle. Those who want to formulate their ideas on the Indian freedom motion are better advised reading other available works on the subject first, and then dig into this book for an entirely new flavour of history telling, which none of the others attempts to. Given this, excessive criticism directed at "Western leanings" in the narrative seems out of context.

In conclusion, a gripping work, eminently successful in what it sets out to achieve and a highly recommended read for any interested in the travails of "a fifth of humanity"


Rating:
Summary: Paid Publicity Some Facts Some Fiction
Review: This book contains a lot of interesting details, which help to visualize what happened during the partition of India and Pakistan. However,...

When I was reading the book it did not come across as fiction, more as fact.
The book is problematic as it presents the British as an innocent bystander who just happened to rule this great land for a couple of hundred years and inadvertently draw up the partition lines which cause so many problems that could not have been foreseen.

Mount batten, and Gandhi are presented as saint-like. Indeed Gandhi had many good qualities, which are brought out. Jinnah in comparison to Nehru is presented as a hard-line, disconnected leader. On the eve of independence he is supposedly only concerned about finding his croquet set in his new mansion. The Hindu/Sikh versus Muslim violence is presented as if it were objective, yet almost without exception the image of the Muslim is a very negative one. Muslims start the antagonism and the Hindu/Sikhs respond. Women are kidnapped, but the compassionate kidnapper is the Sikh. Both sides give refugee but the Hindu is the one with higher morals.

When you mix fact and fiction together you get neither and that is why this book by itself is a poor choice to learn about the partition.


Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This book is correct facutually and has gone in great depts to do so. Very few people have got access to the number of people the authors have met. Intrestingly, they also met the people who assasinated Mahatma Gandhi.
Thoush about history, it is quite fast apced and eye witnesss recollections have been given at appropriate places. It is also one of the best pieces of English langusge in terms of the vizualization which can be after reading throught the chapters on partition and the period after that. It does not wholly focus on gandhi nor on any one person. Though in my opinion, it has praised Mountbatten a bit too much in this book. I would say that India and Pakistan were divided in haste and the demarcation line drawn pretty randomly.

Rating:
Summary: The story of the Independence of India and Pakistan.
Review: This is a great read for those interested in the history of the Third World. India and Pakistan are countries with huge populations and their independence in 1947 was one of turning points in the decolonization of the Third World. Collins and Lapierre detail this story in this book. Also detailed are the four people most important in the independence: Montbatten, Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah. Millions may have lost their life in the Punjab, but it would have been a far bloodier story if these people were not around. Focus is given on Gandhi who was a most unselfish person, in recognizing the rights of all faiths. The book details how Gandhi's struggles lead to the independence of India, and how the leaders of the different faiths broke the country up into Pakistan and India. The last part of the book is the story of the assassination of Gandhi by Hindu fanatics.
This is a great read. At a little over 500 pages, this book will take some time to digest, but it is one of the best books about the independence struggle of Pakistan and India. This book also sheds some light on the current problems with Kashmir.
A great read.


Rating:
Summary: Great book, but so much information
Review: This was a great book - one of those that you start recommending to your friends when you're only halfway through. It's quite dense, with meticulous historical detail about a one year period, but as long as you have the patience to stay engaged through the topics you're less interested in, the payoff is worth it. It's a book that makes you feel that you were shamefully uninformed before you read it, and that you need to absorb as much history as possible so you'll never be uninformed about non-American history again. This reads like fiction not only because it's engaging storytelling, but because it seems impossible that the authors know this much detail about everything without having made it up themselves.