Durga Das

While visiting India (Bangalore to be exact) I found this history book that caught my eye. I am always interested in the history of the countries that I visit or work in. This book fascinated me because of it's closeness to the historical events (The author being a journalist with close relationships to all acting parties). Throughout the whole book you can also feel the sincerity with which the author believed in the struggle for independence.

The book really starts during the time of the raj and the British empire still flourishing. It goes chronologically through all the different appointed Raj's (viceroy's) and their challengers on the Indian side. Das does paint a differentiated picture of the British not just damning them all for the situation. What really makes this book interesting that he relates it to his own growing up as a journalist. He seems to come very close to some of the key players on the Indian and British side.

Going all the way through to the independence Das is not shying away from critisizing even Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and others. Especially his analysis of Nehru and his influence on the congress, the country and world politics overall shows a picture of a statesman struggling with the burden that was put on his sholders and sometime struggling with his own arrogance. Das did not see what India has become today but he would probably be proud of how the developments have brought this country forward.

Reading the book was also giving me another perspective on how the cold war was interpreted outside the Western Hemisphere. India's close relationships with the USSR and other Eastern block countries always seemed disturbing to me.

Overall a good read for anybody who is interested in recent history and in understanding India's political awakening.… (meer)