- Published: 15 June 2016
- ISBN: 9780099542278
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 448
- RRP: $35.00
The Raj at War
A People’s History of India’s Second World War
- Published: 15 June 2016
- ISBN: 9780099542278
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 448
- RRP: $35.00
This fascinating book tells the story of World War Two's impact on India: the shattering of the ordered relations which underpinned the Raj making its end inevitable. It's also a much needed reminder of India's contribution to that war
Mark Tully
Exceptional...balances analysis, history and human compassion in a narrative that leaves one shaken
Juliet Nicolson, 5 stars, Daily Telegraph
Epic and intimate
Aamer Hussein, Independent
Masterly
John Keay, Literary Review
Almost impossible to put down
New Statesman
[Has] brought undeservedly obscure histories into a powerful and startling light
Matthew Price, National
A fascinating, vividly written history full of surprises, some of them shocking
The Times
The Second World War is one of the most written-about episodes in all world history: every month sees a dozen new titles published. Yet, astonishingly, The Raj at War breaks new ground on almost every page
William Dalrymple, Spectator
A striking example of people’s history, packed with anecdotes, memories and information about a shared but largely unwritten global past
Guardian
[Khan marshals] a dazzling array of first-hand sources – soldiers and politicians, but also non-combatants such as nurses, refugees, peasants and prostitutes – to illustrate the effect the conflict had on South Asian society and politics
Saul David, 4 stars, Mail on Sunday
an intricately detailed insight into an underexplored area of wartime history
Emma Jolly, Who Do You Think You Are?
[an] important book
Jason Burke, Observer
[an] important book
Jason Burke, Guardian
Khan’s research has been extensive and she combines it with a gift for storytelling. She is at her best and most original in bringing us the revealing perspectives of witnesses other historians might ignore.
Zareer Masani, History Today
An exhaustively researched history that uses a dazzling array of first-hand sources to illustrate the effect the Second World War had on South Asian society and politics
Saul David, Evening Standard
[Khan] shows convincingly how Indians could no longer be fooled, or fool themselves, that the British presence was either benign or irreversible
David Horspool, Guardian
Yasmin Khan...offers a richly researched social history of wartime India that is peppered with fascinating detail
The Economist
Unprecedented in scope...rich both in detail and in its unique insights... Khan's history has paved the way for a more complex understanding of the Second World War as India's War
Vinay Lal, Indian Express
Revelatory study… Khan balances analysis, history and human compassion in a narrative that leaves one shaken.
Sunday Telegraph
Remarkable Account… Compassionate, judicious and brilliantly readable, this is a compelling account of a dramatic, but little examined, aspect of history
Daily Mail
Khan has written a first class book... Exceptionally well told facts throughout the book, I was staggered at her revelations … It is a bitter, sweet story throughout … Overall, the book enlightened me in many ways, perhaps it makes me regard the Indian in a different light today. It certainly has made me look up other deeper facts about various matters pertaining to the era of the Second World War, and that has to be a good inducement to read the book.
Reg Seward, Nudge