The Setting of the British Raj - Rated 
It is appropriate that I finished reading this book at the stroke of midnight 14 August 2007. This first book by the author is a wonderful retelling of the events and personalities leading to the independence of India and the Partition to India and Pakistan. The book's strength is the retelling of the close relationship between Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten. Edwina was born to immense wealth. Her maternal grandfather left her assets of 3 million pounds ( equivalent to 100 million pounds today ). She inherited even more from her father's side.
Edwina forged a close relationship with Nehru while serving as Vicereine of India. She died in bed in Sabah in 1960 a batch of letters by her bedside and a few letters strewn across her bed- she must have been reading them when she died. All the letters were from Nehru. Edwina was buried at sea from HMS Wakeful, escorted by an Indian frigate the Trishul, sent by Nehru to cast a wreath of marigolds into the waves after Edwina's coffin. Nehru died 4 years later in 1964. ( see pages 60, 351& 352 )
According to Judith Brown's Nehru- A Political Life © 2003 at page 366 footnote 46, the best life of Edwina is Janet Morgan's Edwina Mountbatten- A Life of Her Own. © 1991
Gripping and excellent "Indian Summer" - Rated
I purchased this book and decided to read it on my regular flight to India.It is a very well written book and brings Lord Mountbatten to view in a real sort of way. It clearly shows what a mediocre bungling man Mountbatten really was....and maybe he and Jinnah should shoulder the deaths of the poor millions who died in the Partition riots...Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominque Lapierre is something which I still read again and again but this book by Miss Tunzelman brings out so much in historical details which we never knew easily before. The narrative on Kashmir is excellent. (see Mr Santhanakrishnan's review) Its fascinating to know that Britain had cooly sold Kashmir for over a million pounds to Maharaja Singh, an Indian given that Britain did not own India in the first place! Perhaps in times to come ordinary down-to-earth Indians and Pakistanis may one day hopefully realise that they are two parts of one country with a similar culture and ethnicity which was divided by an alien power (in particular Churchill)with the singular intention of keeping instability in the region. Maybe then, they would throw their borders open and live in peace and happiness helping the the poor millions with moneys which are being wasted on firearms. In various parts of the world (Ireland, Middle East!!) where strife and wars occur between neighbouring countries one can always see the scheming colonial hand of the Great Britain that it was.
A great book about the end of British India - Rated
In 2007 a number of books came out about British India, Partition and the end of the Raj. I find this part of history fascinating but couldnt decide when on a limited budget what to read. I picked Indian Summer and was so pleased that i did.
Indian Summer is a great history book, very readable and accessible. it covers all the main historical figures and characters with lots of information and ancedotes about them all.
Nothing new another reviewer said? Personally I did not realise that Lady Mountbatten and Nehru where rumoured to be having an affair (which influenced a lot of decisions made then), that Gandhi's importance had really waned by 1947 and he was deeply unpopular with sections of the Congress party and most untouchables and that he had some unusual ways of testing himself with young women, that Jinnah seemed to regret the foundation of Pakistan and that Bangladesh/East Pakistan had been designed not to work and therefore be rejected by the Muslim League which might explain some of the problems it faces today. I found this book packed with new information and insights. And I teach History!
A truly fascintating read, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Indian history.
Excellent readable history - Rated
Von Tunzelmann has made a great fist of this. It's refreshing to see the incompetence of Mountbatten put into perspective in a way that all the hagiographies up to now have not. Bear in mind the Mountbatten's steadfastly refuse access to their archives to any serious historian (just read Zeigler's book to see what the authorised ones write about him!) Also, due credit is given to Jinnah as the most dextrous politician in the sub continent, oh how Congress must wish they had done more to keep him on board. Not many 'secrets' as it has been commonly accepted that the relationships between Nehru and the Mountbattens were more than cordial, if only they would get with the times and throw the archives open...there's no reputation left to protect Pamela!!!
Amusing but nothing new - Rated 
I looked forward to this but on reading this one had the feeling that the author had done little else but read "Freedom at Midnight" and watched the DVD "Lord Mountbatten The Last Viceroy". Sorry.
The Book concentrates on the relationship between Mountbatten, Edwina and Nehru with poor old Jinnah getting the blame again. The only thing new is the admitting that as a military commander Mountbatten was pretty hopeless ramming HMS Kelly into everything thing he could find. As Supreme Commander, his staff spent their time keeping Mountbatten away from the battlefield.
As Viceroy one gains the impression that Mountbatten was just a very handsome, well decorated dummy presiding over something he knew little. Still somehow despite all this he muddled through.
Its one virtue: it is written in an entertaining style.
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