Freedom At Midnight by Collins and LaPierre chronicles the end of the British Raj - the end of Empire on the subcontinent and the embodiment of the movement started long years before by Mahatma Gandhi. This book has an excellent and gripping narrative, is exhaustively researched and gives a vivid account of 1947 in India. The book jumps back and forth throughout the long chronicle of Britain’s adventure and involvement in India. It never stops being entertaining and is easy to read throughout. It offers up personal glimpses of the key players involved and some strange anecdotes about historical figures. The book glances over a number of significant portions of the story, including the manner of Britain’s initial involvement in India, the decline of the Moghul Empire and the rise of Sikkhism. It very effectively picturises the pain that the Britishers were undergoing in leaving India. It also deals with the tactics employed by the Britishers in order to avoid partition in order to console themselves that they at least are leaving a united country. And interwoven into the background of the story is the figure of Nathuram Godse, the fanatic Hindu nationalist who would eventually assassinate Mahatma Gandhi. Significant time is spent on contrasting the various methods used to put down the violence.
The way it tells the story of the last few crucial pre-independence years of the Indian struggle is admirable - it provides huge amounts of information. All in all, this book is one of the best accounts of the momentous year 1947 in India’s history.