Ever Perfidious Albion

War and Diplomacy in Kashmir, 1947-48

C Dasgupta

Sage

240 pages/Rs 250

It is never easy to write a riveting book on a subject that has been written about as extensively as Kashmir has. And if you are a former civil servant or a diplomat not accustomed to the rigours of writing, one must assume that it would be even harder to do so.

Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, a former diplomat, has managed the feat with admirable dexterity. He tells the story of what happened in those crucial months immediately after Independence in a degree of detail and simplicity of style that ought to give any good historian a run for his money.

 

The core of Mr Dasgupta