The people themselves are often lost in this depiction, appearing as faceless masses helplessly reacting to political machinations. They are represented here as isolated personages who hold the fate of the Indian people in their hands. This narrative is undeniably fascinating, however, it also places an almost exclusive emphasis on the “great men” of history. It then continues with the chaos and bloodshed of the split, until ending with Gandhi’s assassination in 1948. It begins with Louis Mountbatten’s installation as the Last Viceroy of India, and closely follows the negotiations between Mountbatten, Whitehall, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and Mohandas Gandhi as they make the decision to partition India. This allows Collins and Lapierre to focus on the state-level negotiations on India’s independence. The book compresses the story to a tight one-year time frame. This sort of narrative history also contains drawbacks that limit our understanding of this important moment. The narrative style of the book immerses readers in the visual landscape of the falling Raj and allows them to step into the minds of the great actors of this time. Freedom at Midnight paints a sweeping picture of the tumultuous year of India’s independence from Great Britain in 1947.
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