Churchill’s Secret War by Madhusree Mukerjee; Tranquebar; Price: Rs.495; 352 pp
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Although perhaps the greatest war-time leader of the 20th century who changed the course of world history by doggedly refusing to compromise with Adolf Hitler and the evil ideology of Nazism, there was another side to Winston Churchill — Great Britain’s iconic prime minister during World War II — that of a simpleton. Undoubtedly, by stubbornly resisting all overtures to negotiate peace with Nazi Germany and parcel out the world between the Third Reich and the globe-girdling British Empire, Churchill played a major role in the triumph of democratic ideology which has made the world a much better place. Yet he was unable to discern that the triumph of the grand democratic alliance (aka the Allies) that he engineered in WW II would give wings to this egalitarian ideology, marking the beginning of the end of British rule in India, and precipitate the meltdown of the British Empire.
In retrospect it’s becoming increasingly apparent that although Churchill was an eloquent exponent of the English language and a widely read author and historian, imperial Britain’s great war-time leader was hardly an intellectual. After struggling through the renowned English public school Harrow (estb. 1572), instead of going to university he signed up with Sandhurst Military College where he studied war strategy. This education enabled him to evolve into a great war leader, but failed to equip him intellectually to see the other side of arguments or to comprehend larger philosophical concepts such as liberty, equality and fraternity. In the end, beneath the veneer of his upper-class epicureanism and bluster, Churchill was an atavistic racist with particular hatred for “Hindus and their beastly religion”.
Against the backdrop of a global conflict between Nazi Germany and the Western democracies, India’s freedom movement and the steady advance of the imperial Japanese war machine towards eastern India, Madhusree Mukerjee has crafted this riveting history of the great Bengal Famine of 1943, in which an estimated 3-5 million people perished in the most abject circumstances —over a million of them in Calcutta — even as five-course meals were routinely served to Allied soldiers and in the city’s hotels and restaurants. Brilliantly researched in London, India and Frankfurt (where Mukerjee lives), the author has uncovered a dirty secret of WW II, glossed over by embarrassed western historians who have tended to focus on the larger picture of the Allies’ triumph over Nazi Germany, and the heroic leadership role played by Churchill in the great war.
Yet as this heavyweight history makes abundantly clear, subject India played a major supportive and largely unacknowledged role in the Allies victory in WW II, contributing over a million soldiers plus foodgrains, rations, clothing and munitions to the war effort. In the engrossing pages of this narrative, written with prime focus on the pauperisation of Bengal which in 1665, physician-historian Francis Bernier described as the “finest and most fruitful country in the world”, the huge resources diverted by the subcontinent towards the Allied forces are adequately highlighted.
In the process, the author also exposes the hollowness of the self-proclaimed British virtue of justice and fair play. Churchill’s Secret War graphically describes how, starting from the end of the Battle of Plassey (1757) in which the nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-Daula was defeated by a small expeditionary force of the East India Company led by Robert Clive (mainly because of the treachery of Siraj-ud-Daula’s general Mir Jafar), when “200 barges carrying the first instalment of the company’s booty set off from the capital city of Murshidabad on July 3, 1757 accompanied down the Ganga (or Ganges) river by the trumpeting of a British band”, the East India Company and later the British Crown, ruthlessly looted and pauperised Bengal for over a century. Then the capital of the British Raj was moved from impoverished Calcutta to imperial New Delhi in 1857.
At the heart of this commendable work of scholarship is a forceful object lesson of how quickly flourishing societies and civilisations built over centuries can be destroyed by reckless marauders. Within a decade after the battle of Plassey, in 1765 Robert Clive wrested from the “ever-weakening” Mughal emperor in Delhi the right to collect taxes of Bengal province, which then included Bihar and Orissa. “Within five years Bengal became India’s poorest province,” writes Mukerjee, and in 1770 experienced its first great famine in which 10 million people died of starvation.
From a reading of this history it becomes manifestly apparent that it was the acts of commission and omission of London and prime minister Churchill, in particular his sinister crypto-Nazi economic advisor Frederick Lindemann (later Lord Cherwell), which catalysed the great Bengal famine, case histories of which are narrated in heart-rending detail by Mukerjee. Under orders of the imperial government in Britain, foodgrain stocks were requisitioned from the food surplus areas of Punjab and north India to feed the 2 million-strong Indian Army fighting an Anglo-American war, and to cater to the civilian population of Britain where reserve foodstocks during the war years had accumulated to three times the mandatory requirement.
Moreover under London’s directive, foodgrain stocks and standing crops in Bengal which had suffered a devastating cyclone in 1942 were requisitioned and/or destroyed, lest they fell into the hands of Japanese troops which had entered Burma by the time. Despite all this, the pleas of the British government of India and of Lord Amery, India secretary within Churchill’s war cabinet, for food relief in famine-hit Bengal were obstinately turned down. This sequence of events is compellingly detailed in this revealing history of the neglect and decline of this once-rich province, which has never since recovered its momentum.
Finally among the many insights on matters great and small, to be derived from this rich and rewarding chronicle is that all nations have their own heroes. Churchill is a hero of imperial Great Britain, but as this history makes unambiguously clear, he isn’t ours. On the contrary he had a visceral hatred for Indians born out of his limited education and awareness of world history. He also deliberately divided the Hindu and Muslim communities in a vain effort to perpetuate British rule in India, which precipitated the bloodbath of Partition and religious antagonism within the subcontinent. In middle class India it is customary to eulogise Churchill as the universally admired hero of WWII. The enduring value of Churchill’s Secret War is that it will make the scales fall from Indian eyes.
Dilip Thakore
Last chance guide
500 Places to See Before They Disappear by Holly Hughes and Larry West; Wiley Publishing Inc; Price: Rs.940; 472 pp
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Global warming, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, mining and deforestation are among the thousand unnatural shocks transforming the world as we know it. Although disappearance of civilisations, destruction of grand monuments and extinction of plant and animal species are no longer novel phenomena, this is perhaps the only era when a concerted global effort is being made to preserve the planet’s environment and its architectural wonders. “The devastation wrought by climate change and direct man-made interference is familiar to all of us. But this book is a carefully chosen list of last-chance destinations that eco-conscious travellers can enjoy — if they move sharpish — for possibly the last time,” writes Holly Hughes in the introduction of a compendium of the most threatened wonders of the world.
One might question the rationale behind writing such a book. If these 500 places are in danger of disappearing, is it really a good idea to encourage tourists (even if eco-friendly) to throng them? Hughes answers this question effectively in the preface. “In the process of cherishing these natural and cultural wonders, we renew our commitment to preserving them,” and encourages tourists to travel “choosing non-polluting, fuel-efficient transportation, supporting local suppliers, and leaving as few traces as possible on the land.” Possibly travelers visiting these endangered destinations will return and spread awareness about their need for urgent protection. In rare habitats like the rain forests, profits from eco-tourism could pay for community projects, healthcare and education.
This unique guide book contains much more than information about forests, glaciers, mountains, lakes and other natural treasures. “Though this book was originally conceived as a handbook for eco-tourists, it soon became clear that we couldn’t separate natural and man-made attractions. After all, historical and cultural landmarks are part of the environment, too. If changes in the natural environment have threatened the piping plover, the Tasmanian devil and the mountain gorilla, so too have changes in our cultural environment threatened classic amusement parks, ballparks and movie palaces. Our planet is poorer every time we allow something to die,” says Hughes in the brief introduction.
Organised into nine chapters, this handy reference book covers 500 sites grouped into categories such as mountains, ruins, architecture and water. World-famous hotspots like the Grand Canyon, the Amazon rainforest and the Taj Mahal, are featured with relatively unknown endangered wonders such as Bolivia’s El Fuerte de Samapiata fort and the Mabi Forest in Queensland, Australia. Although there’s an inevitable bias in favour of threatened American sites, all of them are described in succinct and well-crafted synopses covering what you might see there, why it is special, and advice to visitors. Each entry, about two pages in length, gives a good description of the site, a couple of images, and details of initiatives, if any, being taken to preserve them. Each essay ends with practical advice — hotel recommendations, phone numbers and contact details of local tourism authorities.
From Canada to Chile, Russia to Africa and India to Japan, 500 Places to See highlights heritage locations under threat from ‘development’. If the purpose of putting together this volume was to alert travelers and eco-conscious individuals to visit and learn about the rich legacy of cultural, historical and natural wonders before they vanish into oblivion, the author has succeeded in achieving it. Students in particular, should take note of this book which should be available in every school and university library to generate awareness in gen-next about environment protection.
Readers in the subcontinent where environment and ecology preservation standards are abysmal, may be surprised to learn that only 19 Indian destinations are listed as seriously endangered. Among them: The Ajanta Caves, Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Chilika Lake Bird Sanctuary, the Great Stupa of Sanchi, the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, Sundarbans National Park, the Taj Mahal, temples of Khajuraho and the Valley of Flowers (Uttarakhand).
One glaring omission in this informative and entertaining volume is the absence of maps. It should have featured at least one comprehensive world map with all the imperilled destinations marked on it.
Srinidhi Raghavendra