A Short History of The Indian Partition

Amazing read, easy read and a great summary of events without going into too much details

Clearly a highly complex subject. Guarana has succeeded in highlighting many aspects including key events and people. Creates many thought processes which will no doubt result in further reading.

It's very hard to know if this is a balanced view of the partition as it is written by a Hindu and to his credit he does say he is not sure himself.I found it a bit of a tedious read and was glad to finish it and move on. However I do feel a little more knowledgeable on a very tragic and important historical event and the parts played in it by the various factions and who proposed the idea which was my reason for reading it.

I found this book to be an appetizer. While giving a good account on the partition narrative, it poses several interesting questions. This book has motivated me to explore the topic of partition in depth. Thanks Gautham Madhav for a decent read.

*** What is the book all about? ***A Short History of the Indian Partition talks to us about the specific events, people, parties, strategies, and circumstances that led to the partition of the Indian subcontinent.In vivid detail, it takes us through the factual details of the violence, the personalities and forces that enabled it, the people and their organizations who tried their best to avert it, the events that led to the genesis of Pakistan, and the important years in the timeline of the partition*** A thoroughly researched work ***The book is the outcome of extensive and detailed research by the author. This is most evident from the long list of references and notes that the author has mentioned at the end.*** The writing style ***The author makes use of an objective writing style that focuses more on giving you data points as opposed to essay-length rhetoric. He also makes use of shorter chapters which are further divided into shorter subsections that make the book a fast-paced read. The broad variety of views and perspectives that he has incorporated into the narrative is obvious from the extensive reference list at the end of the book.*** What I particularly liked? – Clarity of thought ***I love it when an author talks about the objectives of his book in a clear manner. As is deducible from the section titled ‘Why I Wrote This Book?’, the book is meant as a read accessible to a wide variety of readers to learn about Partition and the events that ultimately led to its fruition. While one can find numerous books on the subject, the brevity of this one is what makes it special.*** What I didn’t like? ***The book has its share of grammatical and editing errors that manage to catch my eye. To a reader like me, it does bring down the overall quality of the work.*** What could have been better? ***I love it when history books come with a good dose of illustrations, fact charts, and maps. I found them missing in A Short History of the Indian Partition.

Very nice read which succintly captures the background and reality of Partition. I personally learnt a lot of details on the personalities who were involved during that time and their various motivations.