The Longest August

Dilip Hiroa

Penguin India, 528 pages, Rs. 799

This is a definitive history of one of the world’s longest-running and most intractable conflicts, and looks as far back as events in 1888 to trace the chain of cause and effect leading to Partition. Hiro weaves the history of the two countries into a lucid narrative, with biographies of leaders and descriptions of wars, sensational assassinations and gross violations of human rights.