Table Of ContentACCLAIM FOR
Indian Summer
“An engaging, controversial, very lively and, at times, refreshingly irreverent tour de force. Alex
von Tunzelmann has written a dramatic story, laced with tragedy and farce … a remarkable
debut.”
–Lawrence James, author of
Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India
“Alex von Tunzelmann is a wonderful historian, as learned as she is shrewd. But she is also
something more unexpected: a writer with a wit and an eye for character that Evelyn Waugh
would surely have admired.”
–Tom Holland, author of Rubicon and Persian Fire
“Indian Summer is outstandingly vivid and authoritative. Alex von Tunzelmann brings a lively
new voice to narrative history-writing.”
–Victoria Glendinning, author of Leonard Woolf
“Alex von Tunzelmann has produced a superb account of an event that still has the power to
shock; her lucid and even-handed narrative guides us safely through the excitements and
complexities of the period.”
–Trevor Royle, author of The Last Days of the Raj
Copyright © 2007 by Alex von Tunzelmann
Cloth edition published 2007
Emblem edition published 2008
Emblem is an imprint of McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
Emblem and colophon are registered trademarks of McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
First published in Great Britain in 2007
by Simon & Schuster U.K. Ltd.
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a
retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying
or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an
infringement of the copyright law.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Von Tunzelmann, Alex, 1977-
Indian summer : the secret history of the end of an empire /
Alex von Tunzelmann.
eISBN: 978-1-55199620-2
1. India – History – Partition, 1947. 2. India – History – Partition, 1947 – Biography. 3.
Statesmen – India – Biography. 4. British – India – History – 20th century. 5. Great Britain –
Colonies – Asia – History – 20th century. I. Title.
DS480.842.v66 2008 954.03′59 C2008-900913-4
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing
Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario
Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support
of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.
McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
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v3.1
To Nick and Carol,
with love and thanks
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Maps
PROLOGUE: A Tryst With Destiny
PART I: EMPIRE
1 In Their Gratitude Our Best Reward
2 Mohan and Jawahar
3 Civis Britannicus Sum
4 Dreaming of the East
5 Private Lives
6 We Want No Caesars
7 Power Without Responsibility
8 A New Theatre
9 Now or Never
PART II: THE END
10 Operation Madhouse
11 A Barrel of Gunpowder
12 Lightning Speed Is Much Too Slow
Photo Insert
13 A Full Basket of Apples
14 A Rainbow in the Sky
PART III: THE BEGINNING
15 Paradise on Earth
16 The Battle for Delhi
17 Kashmir
18 Maybe Not Today, Maybe Not Tomorrow
PART IV: AFTERWARDS
19 A Kiss Goodbye
20 Echoes
Notes
Bibliography
A Note on Names
Glossary
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In Britain, I would like to thank Her Majesty The Queen for allowing me
access to the Royal Archives at Windsor, and the staff there, especially
Pamela Clark; the staff at the Mountbatten Papers at Southampton
University, especially Karen Robson and Chris Woolgar; the National
Archives at Kew; the department of Asian & African Studies at the British
Library, London; the Newspaper Library at Colindale; the Churchill
Archives Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge; the Centre of South
Asian Studies at Cambridge; the Modern Papers Department at the
Bodleian Library, Oxford, especially Colin Harris and Helen Langley; the
School of Oriental and African Studies, London; and the London Library.
In India, I would like to thank all the staff at the National Archives, and
at the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, both in New Delhi.
During the course of writing this book, I made repeated approaches to
the Mountbatten and Nehru-Gandhi families, in the hope that I would be
allowed to use the private archive of letters that passed between
Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten. Though their responses
were courteous, neither family was keen to cooperate. Only a handful of
carefully selected historians has ever been allowed to look at any part of
this correspondence, a pity in view of the light it would undoubtedly
shed on some of the twentieth century’s most fascinating personalities
and politics. Lord Mountbatten himself is said to have wanted the
correspondence published. At the time of writing, the letters remain
closed.
Many people were generous in giving me their advice and thoughts. I
would particularly like to thank M.J. Akbar, William Dalrymple, Saul
David, Nicky Goldberg, Anna and James Hatt, Lawrence James, Julia
Jordan, Edward Luce, Eleanor Newbigin, Dora Napolitano, Alexander
van Praag, Nicole Taylor, Eugénie von Tunzelmann and Siraj Ulmulk.
Special thanks must go to Nayantara Sahgal, for sharing with me her
lucid and perceptive memories of the period and the people in this book
and allowing me to see her wonderful collection of photographs and
private letters. I would also like to thank Jeremy Paxman for giving me
invaluable opportunities to hone my research skills, and for encouraging
me to write my own book. Two friends in particular have offered
indispensable help: Maddie Rowe, whose expert comments have been as
witty as they have been perceptive; and Adi Bloom, whose exceptional
reader’s eye and infectious enthusiasm for all things subcontinental have
been inspiring.
The events of 1947–48 are still highly controversial, and some of those
who spoke to me have asked not to be named. They may be assured of
my gratitude nonetheless. Any errors in this book are entirely my
responsibility.
For the production of this book, I would like to thank my editors,
Andrew Gordon, George Hodgman and Chris Bucci; also Jennifer Barth,
Kari Brownlie, Martin Bryant, Eva Diaz, Joanne Edgecombe, Lisa Fyfe,
Sue Gard, Vicki Haire, Meryl Levavi, Vanessa Mobley, Emily Montjoy,
Lindsay Ross, Kenn Russell, Rory Scarfe, John Sterling, and everyone at
Simon & Schuster in London, Henry Holt in New York and McClelland &
Stewart in Toronto. I am extremely grateful to Natasha Fairweather and
to all at A.P. Watt, especially Philippa Donovan, Rob Kraitt, Naomi Leon
and Linda Shaughnessy.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents for too many things to list
here, but expressly for their unfailing support, wit, generosity, guidance
and love throughout this project. It is a privilege to be able to dedicate
this book to them.
