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From International Socialism (1st series), No.20, Spring 1965, p.30.
Thanks to Ted Crawford & the late Will Fancy.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
India Under Morley and Minto
M.N. Das
Allen & Unwin, 45s.
Six Minutes to Sunset
Arthur Swinson
Peter Davies, 30s.
British history in India is a unique blend of conspiracy and force, acceptance and imposition, loyalty and betrayal; and Das’ book is an excellent account of the blending at its most fruitful, namely the years 1905-1910 when constitutional change was officially recognised together with the ultimate political beneficiaries, the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. It is a rich account, based oir the recently released papers of the Secretary of State for India, the Liberal John Morley, and the Tory Viceroy, Lord Minto.
Swinson’s book deals with events one decade later. Had the South African regime bowed before the wave of revulsion that followed Sharpeville Massacre; had it then sacrificed the officer who ordered the shooting by rigging a Commission of Inquiry, by packing committees, by destroying evidence – had all this taken place within an Empire in which South Africa was the brightest jewel, we would have the plot of the Amritsar Massacre of 1919 and the fate of General Dyer. It is an Empire’s story of oppression and intrigue that used and then fell foul of the narrow integrities of its military servants. Unfortunately, Swinson’s telling falls short of the tale.
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Last updated on 14 April 2010