Customer Reviews
Excellent, unbiased account of the partition of India - By: lil-d1985, 25 Sep 2008 
Being an Indian born British citizen I became interestedin learning about the history of my country & decided to buy this book to learn about one of the most historically important events of Indian history - its partition.
This book is well written & takes you through the events that caused the partition of the Indian sub-continent. French covers the accounts of all those involved, Indians, Pakistanis & the British, to provide an un-biased picture of what happened. Also he provides insights into the workings of the main characters such as Jinnah & Gandhi & the means they used to get their ideas across. Although in-depth & informative, this book does sometimes lack details of certain events. For example, French often mentions eventsin the history of India, which some may know very well, but others may not. He does not try to provide a description of the event but instead assumes the reader is aware of it. On these instances I often got lost within the book. Also he did on many occassions jumble up the years, jumping say from the early forties to the late forties very suddenly &in a confusing manner.
But apart from those minor criticisms this is a very informative book which lays out the events as they were instead of providing a biased view of them.
Essential Reading - By: Ibrahim Ali, 14 Sep 2008 A masterfully written account of the partition. Patrick French combines a scholarly account of the travails that tore India into two with a travelogue where he gives us access to the lives & views of the ordinary people that were affected by the partition & its legacy. French also does some first rate historical researchin unearthing government papers not released till his request. The book assumes no prior knowledge & doesn't fall into the trap so often made by outsiders of turning Ghandi into a saint. Instead here we see him as a sum of all his parts, both the good & the bad. Jinnah too is given a fair outingin this book, the only protagonist to escape severe criticism is Nehru despite his rolein the Kashmir problem & the annexation of the Princely State of Hyderabad. The Bengali side of the question is not ignored here though it is given far less prominence than it deserves. Overall a wonderful telling of the partition, this should be the first starting point for anyone interestedin learning the modern history of the sub-continent.
The Different Style - By: Ali Mustafa Khan, 21 Feb 2006 I believe the best thing about this book is that it gives a background of leaders & ample of room for us to think why these leaders acted the way they acted. It is not a hostorical rendition but also clear insight into the psyche of that period. I believe the book is quite balanced. And the author is not shy to critique anyone who he thinks should be criticised for certain action.
A good book indeed - By: , 14 Jun 2005 A very good account of India's freedom struggle. Gives incredible insights into the lives of the 'leaders' at that time. I am young Indian & it sure has enlightened me on the details that led to India's independence. Would recommend it to all who want to have a detailed version of events leading to August 1947 & beyond.
An exhaustively researched, unbiased and well written book - By: , 27 Dec 2004 Patrick French's book Liberty or Death is a refreshingly unbiased look at India's freedom movement & the subsequent partition of the sub-continent. The book examines events & prominent figures, Indian, Pakistani & British. Patrick French refrains from casting the main personalitiesin a black or white mould - all have grey areas & these are brought outin an interesting, & occassionally humorous manner. The book deserves to be read just for its portrayal of the men & women who played important rolesin fashioning the destiny of a large chunk of humanity.
The book has other redeeming features as well. It presents a strong argument for why pre-independence India may be considered two separate nations inspite of the people having so muchin common. For many Indians like me this is a completely new point of view - one that can lead to a better appreciation of the history of the sub-continent, &in many cases a more broad-minded understanding of the differences between people from the sub-continent's three major countries.
The content is exhaustively researched & presentedin a most reader-friendly manner - never once did I find the book dry or uninteresting. I recommend it strongly, especially as it offers an unbiased look at events that have shaped the lives of millions.
