REDRESSING A BALANCE
Aparna Basu
Escape from Empire: The Attlee Government and the Indian Problem by Aparna Basu Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1984, 376 pp., 130
May-June 1984, volume 8, No 6

The period between the end of the Second World War and the achievement of indepen¬dence by India has not so far received the attention of historians to the extent that it deserves. Both in terms of British imperial policy in India and of the Indian peoples’ struggle for freedom, these last two years before indepen¬dence are of great importance. Extremely rich and varied source material is now avail¬able, including the Transfer of Power volumes, numerous biographies and autobio-graphies of British officials, Congress leaders, I.N.A. officers, as well as accounts of the Royal Indian Navy (R.I.N.) revolt and of peasants’ and workers’ struggles. British accounts of the transfer of power story have been written by men who had served in the Government of India during or just before 1947, or were in Mount-batten’s entourage. As a result, Mountbatten’s indivi¬dual contribution has been exaggerated. R.J. Moore, in the volume under review, tries to redress the balance by emphasizing the role that Attlee and his colleagues played in shaping the policies that brought about the parting.

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