Stanley Wolpert is Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Gandhi's Passion, Nehru: A Tryst With Destiny, Jinnah of Pakistan, and A New History of India.
"The independence of India and Pakistan in 1947 was a historical
watershed that marked the end of the colonial era and the beginning
of the liberation of the rest of Asia and of Africa. In his
admirable account of this seminal event, Wolpert makes the
compelling case that whereas independence and partition were
inevitable, the horrible cost in the destruction of lives was not.
He attributes the latter to a failure of political leadership,
especially the British
through its representative Viceroy Mountbatten, whose compulsive
and egotistical conduct constituted a major contribution to the
massive human disaster. This is a clinically powerful study of
triumph
and tragedy by a distinguished historian who is also a great
humanitarian."--Jamsheed Marker, Former Ambassador of Pakistan and
former Special Adviser to the Secretary General, United Nations
"In this engrossing, but very controversial, book, Wolpert
considers the responsibility of the leaders, both British and
Indian, for the immediate consequences of the partition in 1947 of
British India into India and Pakistan when hundreds of thousands
were killed in riots and millions became homeless refugees.
Shameful Flight is sobering reading for anyone interested in the
rise and fall of Western imperialism."--Ainslee Embree, Columbia
University
"Wolpert's book is a delightful read and will shine for its stellar
quality of scholarship among the growing body of partition
literature that has surfaced in the last two decades. It will be of
great interest to anyone curious about whatever happened to the
great British Empire and those who often wonder why Indians and
Pakistanis endlessly fight with each other."--Dilip Basu,
University of California, Santa Cruz
"An entertaining and highly controversial account of the British
transfer of power in India."--The International History Review
"A lively...account of the end of the British Raj...The text is
well crafted."--H-Net
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
