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Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

by Alex Von Tunzelmann (Author)

  • New

    Paperback 2007

    $17.29
Synopsis

The stroke of midnight on 15 August 1947 liberated 400 million Indians from the British Empire. One of the defining moments of world history had been brought about by a tiny number of people, including Jawaharlal Nehru, the fiery prime minister-to-be; Gandhi, the mystical figure who enthralled a nation; and Louis and Edwina Mountbatten, the glamorous but unlikely couple who had been dispatched to get Britain out of India without delay. Within hours of the midnight chimes, however, the two new nations of India and Pakistan would descend into anarchy and terror. Nehru, Gandhi and the Mountbattens struggled with public and private turmoil while their dreams of freedom and democracy turned to chaos, bloodshed, genocide and war. INDIAN SUMMER depicts the epic sweep of events that ripped apart the greatest empire the world has ever seen, and reveals the secrets of the most powerful players on the world stage: the Cold War conspiracies, the private deals, and the intense and clandestine love affair between the wife of the last viceroy and the first prime minister of free India. With wit, insight and a sharp eye for detail, Alex von Tunzelmann relates how a handful of people changed the world for ever.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 448
 Edition: First Edition
 Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 02 Jul 2007
ISBN 10: 0743285883
ISBN 13: 9780743285889

Media Reviews
Indian Summer is a true tour de force: absorbing in its detail and masterly in the broad sweep of its canvas. --Sir Martin Gilbert, author of The Somme


Indian Summer is outstandingly vivid and authoritative. Alex von Tunzelmann brings a lively new voice to narrative history-writing. --Victoria Glendinning, author of Leonard Woolf

Alex von Tunzelmann is a wonderful historian, as learned as she is shrewd. But she is also something more unexpected: a writer with a wit and an eye for character that Evelyn Waugh would surely have admired. --Tom Holland, author of Rubicon and Persian Fire

An engaging, controversial, very lively and, at times, refreshingly irreverent tour de force. Alex von Tunzelmann has written a dramatic story, laced with tragedy and farce, and done so very well; a remarkable debut. --Lawrence James, author of The Middle Class: A History and Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India


A brilliantly vivid page-turner that captures the backstage dramas raging on the eve of India's independence. --Tina Brown
Irreistible . . . A fascinating book that may well change how we look on the benighted world in which we live today. -- Los Angeles Times
[A] captivating group portrait, pulling forth the most telling details of each figure's inner life. . . . To have turned an era of such significance and continuing relevance into a page-turner, to both entertain and educate, is an an admirable accomplishment. -- San Francisco Chronicle A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the breakup of British rule in India. --NPR's Fresh Air
[Von Tunzelmann] keeps us riveted. . . . [She] has a fine knack for teasing out the play of personality in momentous events. -- Houston Chronicle
Von Tunzelman is witty, erudite, and thoughtful about her subject. . . . An oppinionated and sardonic writer, [she] is perfectly willing to take on both saints
A brilliantly vivid page-turner that captures the backstage dramas raging on the eve of India's independence. --Tina Brown
Irreistible . . . A fascinating book that may well change how we look on the benighted world in which we live today. -- Los Angeles Times
[A] captivating group portrait, pulling forth the most telling details of each figure's inner life. . . . To have turned an era of such significance and continuing relevance into a page-turner, to both entertain and educate, is an an admirable accomplishment. -- San Francisco Chronicle A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the breakup of British rule in India. --NPR's Fresh Air
[Von Tunzelmann] keeps us riveted. . . . [She] has a fine knack for teasing out the play of personality in momentous events. -- Houston Chronicle
Von Tunzelman is witty, erudite, and thoughtful about her subject. . . . An oppinionated and sardonic writer, [she] is perfectly willing to take on both saints and heroes. -- The C
Author Bio
Alex von Tunzelmann is the author of Indian Summer. She was educated at Oxford and lives in London.