India At War: The Subcontinent and the Second World War

India at War is not a traditional military history. Instead, it’s focus is on the relationship between war and society, in this case, Indian society. This is where the book shines; any student of warfare understands that once a war begins, it follows its own logic and no one knows, or can dictate, where it goes. And, something not normally examined, is the impact of war on society after the fighting stops.Yasmin Khan’s book can almost be seen as a case study on how war affects society and the unintended consequences of war at the end. Although Britain did not start World War II in the Pacific, the consequences of the war directly impacted the Raj, and the people of India. From the Japanese advance on Bengal and bombing of several Indian eastern cities, to internal politics, the war affected everything: the economy, politics, how people lived their lives, and more. At the same time, the disruption of Indian society and the Raj pushed Indian independence over the edge. After fighting for the British Empire for four years and paying a heavy cost at home to ensure Germany and Japan did not rule western Europe and southwest Asia, India couldn’t justify it’s being ruled by Britain. At the same time because of failures in the early part of the war the Raj had lost most of its legitimacy in the eyes of the Indian people. Essentially India had earned the right of independence. Britain itself essentially conceded the point when it quickly negotiated the independence and partition of India so quickly after the war.Of course, the book is more detailed than my summary. It discusses the impact of the Japanese threat to eastern India, allied armies overwhelming parts of India, the growth of the Indian Army, the independence movements, and more.One nice thing is this is not a polemic or anti-colonial rant. Throughout the book Khan sticks to her goal of examining the relationship between WWII and Indian society. She clearly demonstrates the failures of Britain and the Raj politically and economically, to include their failure to deal with India’s determination to obtain its independence. If it’s not an anti-colonial rant, it is certainly not even close to a pro-British Empire history.I definitely recommend this book, not just as a history of India in World War II, but also because of the insight it provides on the dynamic relationship between war and society.Originally published in London as: The Raj at War: A People's History of India's Second World War.

This is history from below and Yasmin Khan shows how the war affected and was affected by soldiers and their families, civilians forced/encouraged to produce more food and steel, even the bureaucrats of the vast Indian Civil Service many of whom worked for five or six years without a home leave back to England. The social effects of the war exacerbated the differences of class, caste and religion and made the gulf between the wealthy elites and the very poor (most of the population) even more obvious. Donald Horowitz did most of his research for his magisterial “The Deadly Ethnic Riot” in India and for good reason; communal violence there has been as common but much more murderous as football riots in England.Women, industrial workers and the urban middle class were mobilized and activated in new ways. Nationalism in both India and Britain was heightened with one side effect being that loyalty to the British king both real and symbolic was weakened in the subcontinent. Even so, Indian lower classes gave themselves wholeheartedly to the war at first—by the end of the war India had the largest volunteer army in world. They never had to resort to conscription although the pressure to fill recruitment quotas on civil servants, rulers of princely states and local governors occasionally led to the equivalent of press gang methods.In many cases the lure of enlistment was a steady paycheck and three meals a day. As much as possible of the soldiers’ pay was sent back as remittances to their families which allowed them to escape or at least ameliorate the constant presence of malnourishment and their shamefully low standard of living—for example life expectancy in India at the start of the war was 26 years. Others joined because they came from a martial caste or a province with a history of service. In Punjab elderly veterans of World War I helped round up recruits with their stories of heroism, adventure, travel and exotic women.Whatever the method of recruitment, the result were everything that could be dreamed of by the leaders of the war including Churchill who seemed not to miss any chance to (privately) declare how he detested India and Indians, for example: "I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion.” The Indian Army set an example of valor, discipline under fire and willingness to gain an objective even when the British generals sent them into a meat grinder due to poor knowledge of the battlefield and simple stupidity. The actual history of the Indian Army in North Africa, Italy and Burma is a stirring one.Yasmin Khan is one of several historians looking at the role of India during the war. Despite the toll the Indian forces suffered—90,000 killed or wounded—it has been overlooked. The main reason, of course, is that the end of the war preceded the independence of the subcontinent and formation of India and Pakistan along with the horrors of millions of people moving from their homes because they were either Muslim or Hindu. “India at War” is as close to “people’s history” as one will find and is well worth reading by anyone interested in the subject.

This gives a human and yet sweeping view of India's important contribution to winning WWII. The research that the author has done is awesome, and the stories, be they from veterans, from civil servants, from POWs and a myriad range of characters, add real color to the Indian experience of the war.I had read a book done in a similar vein, "Liberty's Exiles", by Maya Jasanoff, about the thousands of people who left the 13 Colonies after US independence. Both show history from a different point of view. If you liked Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World  one of these books, you'll probably like the other.

As an emigre from Ireland and the UK with lots o colonialist indoctrination in my youth, and rowing up in these off-shore3 islands of Europe in World War II, the political views expressed here, while both actual and realistic, were not part of the feelings the UK government fed to its people. A very interesting historical narrative.

Excellent book! In Gandhi-Nehru worshipping India, they don't teach the real history this book tells, since it doesn't fit the popular narrative that India got its independence by non-violence. They don't tell kids the great impact WWII had on India and its independence struggle. A must read book for those who want to know the truth.

Well written and covering broad themes as well as individual actions.

somewhat predjuduced against brittish

Good background on India in WWII era.

The Economist gave this a very good review and since I have been associated with India for 50years I bought it. Unfortunately Dr Khan is an historian who sees historical events or circumstances with a modern eye and ethos and this leads to a distortion of how things would have been seen at the time and a more balanced view. Interestingly there is a similar book but of the first world war: For King And Another Country by another lady historian; Shrabani Basu which has a more human touch and is better balanced and recommended.

A detailed, informative and well researched account of the effects on different sections of the Indian population of the Second World War. A very worthwhile book.