SHAMEFUL FLIGHT - THE LAST YEARS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA

Shameful flight or stategic withdrawal?

The last years of the British Raj and the partition of India and Pakistan were defining events in twentieth-century world history. From the surrender of Singapore to the assassination of Gandhi, Wolpert tells the story of the people - Churchill, Mountbatten, Gandhi, and Nehru - and the dramatic events in which they took part. Stanley Wolpert argues that the hasty departure of the British from the subcontinent, described by Churchill as 'shameful flilght', laid the groundwork for the continuing violence between India and Pakistan. While Wolpert does not believe the British could have ruled India indefinitely he argues that the disaster of partition was largely due to Lord Mountbatten's misguideddecision to get Britain out of India as quickly as possible.