Best books on partition of the Sub-continent?

[greatest]

Can anyone recommend me the best book on the 1947 partition. Despite being an avid reader, over the years I have avoided reading books on this topic. The reason is that the ones written by English, Indian, American authors have been reviewed as somewhat biased, inaccurate and a bit controversial as well. Freedom at Midnight is one book which was appreciated but not well reviewed by Indians and Pakistanis.

I want to read a book which is as accurate as possible and not biased towards the English, Pakistanis and Indians.

 

[gani999]

Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh. It's a fictional work but accurately describes the situation at that time.

 

[Buffet]

I want to read a book which is as accurate as possible and not biased towards the English, Pakistanis and Indians.

I have not read any books on this topic, but it's normally hard to find a book without any bias. Books are written by humans and we all have bias.

Best bet would be to read 3-4 well recommended books from different perspective and then you get the big picture.

 

[SalimBhai]

Manto has a great short story ( fiction) on it

 

[RajBan]

I have not read any books on this topic, but it's normally hard to find a book without any bias. Books are written by humans and we all have bias.

Best bet would be to read 3-4 well recommended books from different perspective and then you get the big picture.

Spot on

 

[sweep_shot]

I have not read any books on this topic, but it's normally hard to find a book without any bias. Books are written by humans and we all have bias.

Best bet would be to read 3-4 well recommended books from different perspective and then you get the big picture.

This is true.

I am not sure if a truly unbiased source can be found on this topic. To get a neutral perspective, one has to read about different perspectives.

 

[greatest]

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to give a start with Freedom at Midnight. If anyone can recommend more books on the subject, it will be much appreciated.

 

[KB]

Freedom at Midnight suffers from the fact that the authors rather too readily accepted Mountbatten’s version of events. It might be readable but it is far from the most reliable account.

A good starting place for non-academic work aimed at the general public is Patrick French’s Liberty or Death. It is now a little dated but it was a well crafted book. A more recent useful introduction is also provided by Yasmin Khan - The Great Partition.

Much recent writing has been focussed less on the causes and more on the consequences of partition and in this regard two good accounts are The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia by Gyanesh Kudaisya and Tan Tai Yong and The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia by Vazira Zamindar.

There was also - this year - an excellent two part documentary on partition produced by Channel 4 in the UK - India in 1947: Partition in Colour.

 

[greatest]

Freedom at Midnight suffers from the fact that the authors rather too readily accepted Mountbatten’s version of events. It might be readable but it is far from the most reliable account.

A good starting place for non-academic work aimed at the general public is Patrick French’s Liberty or Death. It is now a little dated but it was a well crafted book. A more recent useful introduction is also provided by Yasmin Khan - The Great Partition.

Much recent writing has been focussed less on the causes and more on the consequences of partition and in this regard two good accounts are The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia by Gyanesh Kudaisya and Tan Tai Yong and The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia by Vazira Zamindar.

There was also - this year - an excellent two part documentary on partition produced by Channel 4 in the UK - India in 1947: Partition in Colour.

Thanks a lot. That clears it up!