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Title: The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan
ISBN: 0300120788
Author:
Yasmin Khan
Publicate Date: 2007-09-18
Publish: 2007-09-18
List Price: $30.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $10.92
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $10.93
Amazon Merchant Price: $21.90
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Commendable, succinct history
While many books demonize India or Pakistan in the blame game of partition, Yasmin Khan indicates there was a shared breakdown of Hindu and Muslim trust leading up to the event. This was exacerbated by the clumsy imposition of premature partition upon India and Pakistan by the British government. Without making clear what partition meant or how it would be implemented, fears were greatly magnified, leading to some of the worst civil violence in India-Pakistan history; a virtual state of ethnic cleansing existed, perpetrated by extremists on both sides in 1947. So there is plenty of blame to be passed around. Khan's book seems to do historical justice to the even without detectable Hindu or Muslim bias. His history is vividly descriptive, but sometimes shies away from the political details and power plays one might have wished he had explored further. Nonetheless I found it to be a succinct, commendable book on the event of India's partition.
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2: An excellent context on partition
Most histories of the Indian Partition focus on the leadership but this one actually provides the social, economic and human context of the event. Khan is very balanced in her analysis identifying the forces that were building in the run-up to the Partition. The tragic consequences of these forces were were inevitable but they were ignored by native and colonial leaders due to either their incompetence or their indulgence. While lots of evil was committed by both sides, the book illustrates the uncertain context in which such evil was predictable, even if not justifiable.
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3: Erudite reading
This is a well-researched and well-written book on a very touchy issue of the division of the Indian sub-continent. A well-biased version as well. The author took pains to dissect the various sources, taking into account their biases and prejudices, and tried to portray the true unfoldings of the game the British played, which they thought played very cunningly. People are still suffering from the left-over mess, be it in India-Pakistan, be it in middle-east.
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4: Not Impressed
I bought this book after reading a positive review in the Economist. I am not sure why it has attracted such stellar reviews everywhere. The prose I found uninspiring. The narrative throws no new light on the history of the partition. Yes, it does focus a great deal on the experience of the common man, but I don't see what makes this book deserving of such praise.
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5: The Great Partition -- an excellent history
I bought this book after reading the positive review in The Economist. Khan does an excellent job showing the enormity and tragedy of Partition in people's lives -- more or less ignoring the diplomatic and political history that has been well covered in other works. History is always told with hindsight; Khan shows convincingly that while Partition was widely supported (and opposed), no one, not even the leaders who pushed it hardest had any understanding of what it would do to their country. Although there is an epilogue reflecting on the continued resonance of Partition today, the account ends in the immediate aftermath of partition. It left me wanting more -- a good sign. The book confirmed my conviction that modern nationalism is a folly that has cost humanity dearly. Anyone looking for a highly readable, thoroughly documented and moving account of the Partition of India and its human and social consequences should consider this book.
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