First published in 1956, The Transfer of Power in India remains unsurpassed as the most detailed and comprehensive view from the inside of the transition from British rule to Indian independence in 1947.
V. P. Menon’s rise in the colonial bureaucracy paralleled the growth of the nationalist movement in the subcontinent. In due time, he was offering legal and political solutions as negotiations between the British government and Indian nationalists unfolded. Indeed, he drafted the settlement that served as the basis for the transfer of power to India and Pakistan. In this sweeping narrative, Menon recounts every twist and turn of the freedom struggle between 1939 and 1947—the changing tactics of British delegations and the Indian movement, the considerations that shaped decision-making, the factionalism among Indian nationalists, and of course the violence of the Partition that followed Independence.
The Transfer of Power in India has been invaluable for scholars and general readers since its publication. This revised and updated edition carries a new introduction by Partha Chatterjee that insightfully contextualises the work as well as the author’s life.