Freedom at midnight: A review
“He wore few clothes and urged his disciples, male and female, to do likewise because clothes he said, only encouraged a false sense of modesty” This makes me wonder if this is the only element of Gandhi’s philosophy that my generation zealously believes and follows!
But on a serious note the book provides a very fascinating reconstruction of the events before and after 15th August 1947.Even though the book only spans a year and half, it provides exhaustive details of the period. The authors haven’t just described the events, they have also written a very engaging and intimate account of the Mountbattens, Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah and Patel. They provide great insight into their characters and the reasoning behind their decisions.It should be metioned they paint a rather grim and cold picture of Jinnah.They throw light upon the events and circumstances which prompted Nathuram and his hench men to assassinate Gandhi.Lappiere and Collins have told the saga og the Indian independence and the gruesome partition in exquisite prose and have employed skillful and gripping narrative to sustain the readers interest.
The authors seem to have a Eurocentric view of the Indian freedom struggle.They have tried to glorify Mountbatten and justify the deed of the British empire in India by concealing the atrocities brought about by them. The book deals with the peculiarities of Hinduism and Islam and the dynamics of an Indiam society with a white man’s view.
I would conclude by saying that the book is a very good read for its language specially. But it should not be taken as a comprehensive reference book for Indian independence .It gives an engrossing and riveting account of the major leaders, partition, princely states and the various paradoxes that were present in India at that time.