This is the story of the eclipse of the British Raj and the birth of an independent India and Pakistan. The fabled India of the maharajas, with their palaces and harems, their gold-caparisoned elephants and their glittering private armies—the India of Kipling’s legendary army, with its young British officers commanding troops of a dozen races, religions, and castes—the India of tiger hunts and pigsticking, of sadhus and holy men—the India that was the heart and soul of an empire—underwent a violent transformation into the new India of Gandhi and Nehru, precursor of the Third World. At the center of this drama are Nehru, Jinnah, Mountbatten and, of course, Gandhi, the gentle prophet of revolution, who stirred the masses of the most populous area on earth without raising his voice.
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"The narration is fantastic! The mock Indian accent is funny as. Loved it when the narration went on with Gandhi's waking up at night with a stiffy. Ha Ha! I had read the book 20 years prior, but this blew me away. Took me right into those times. Excellent nartration!"
— King Cobra (5 out of 5 stars)
“There is no single passage in this profoundly researched book that one could actually fault. Having been there most of the time in question, I can vouch for the accuracy of its general mood. It is a work of scholarship, of investigation, research and of significance.”
— James Cameron, New York Times“The song of India…illuminated like scenes in a pageant.”
— Time“Thrilling…staggers the imagination.”
— Daily Mail (London)“Magnificently enlightening and exciting.”
— National Observer“The dialogue is convincing, the story is emotionally moving and it contains some of the best descriptions of battle I've read.”
— Time Out“The text is crisply narrated by Frederick Davidson, whose British accent seems the appropriate voice for this splendid history.”
— Library Journal“Davidson sounds like a whole cast of characters himself.”
— Kliatt" I had read this book a very long time ago in paperback. The audio book was a whole different experience! Excellent writing and narration. "
— Sudhir , 12/28/2017Larry Collins (1929–2005) was born and raised in West Hartford, Connecticut, and was a graduate of Yale University. He was for more than ten years a foreign correspondent in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, first for UPI and then for Newsweek, for which he was Paris bureau chief.
Dominique Lapierre was for many years senior reporter and editor for Paris Match. He is the author of several earlier books published in France, some of them based on his knowledge of the United States, where he attended Lafayette College and where his father served with the French diplomatic service.
Frederick Davidson (1932–2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile’s Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.