Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION CH. 1 FROM THE FALL OF SINGAPORE TO THE FAILURE OF CRIPPS'S MISSION, FEBRUARY-APRIL 1942 CH. 2 FROM CRIPPS'S FAILURE TO THE FAILURE OF CONGRESS'S "QUIT INDIA," APRIL-OCTOBER 1942 CH. 3 FROM GANDHI'S FAST THROUGH THE FIRST YEAR OF WAVELL'S VICEROYALTY, JANUARY 1943-JULY 1944 CH. 4 SUMMIT FAILURES AND CABINET OBSTACLES, AUGUST 1944-JULY 1945 CH. 5 FROM THE END OF WORLD WAR II THROUGH THE CABINET MISSION, AUGUST 1945-JUNE 1946 CH. 6 THE INTERIM GOVERNMENT, JUNE-DECEMBER 1046 CH. 7 LORD MOUNTBATTEN'S LAST CHUKKA, APRIL-JUNE 1947 CH. 8 PARTITIONED TRANSFER OF POWER, AUGUST 1947 CH. 9 FREEDOM'S WOODEN LOAF, AUGUST-OCTOBER 1947 CH. 10 INDO-PAK WAR OVER KASHMIR, OCTOBER 1947-JULY 1948 EPILOGUE NOTES/ BIBLIOGRAPHY

About the Author

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.

Reviews

"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