“Chronicles the run up to Jallianwala Bagh with spellbinding . . . focus. . . . Mr. Wagner’s achievement is one of balance . . . and, above, all, of perspective.” (The Wall Street Journal) The Amritsar Massacre of 1919 was a seminal moment in the history of the British Empire, yet it remains poorly understood. In this dramatic account, Kim A. Wagner details the perspectives of ordinary people and argues that General Dyer’s order to open fire at Jallianwalla Bagh was an act of fear. Situating the massacre within the “deep” context of British colonial mentality and the local dynamics of Indian nationalism, Wagner provides a genuinely nuanced approach to the bloody history of the British Empire. “Mr Wagner argues his case fluently and rigorously in this excellent book.” —The Economist “Written with a humane commitment to the truth that will impress.” —The Times “Skillfully maps a tale of growing tensions, precipitate action, and troubled aftermath.” —The Telegraph “A compelling account” —Financial Times “Wagner's postmortem of an imperial disaster should be widely read.” —R.A. Callahan, emeritus, Choice “The fullest, and by far the most authoritative, account of the causes and course of the Jallianwala massacre in any language.” —Nigel Collett, author of The Butcher of Amritsar “Mining a variety of sources – diaries, memoirs and court testimonies—[Wagner] uncovers fresh perspectives and examines the relation between colonial panic and state brutality with sophistication, sincerity and style.” —Santanu Das, author of India, Empire, and First World War Culture “Analytically sharp but gripping to read, the book is a page-turner”—Barbara D. Metcalf, co-author of A Concise History of India “An important book.” –Yasmin Khan, author of The Partition

Based on a meticulous exploration of the primary sources and oral testimonies of the survivors and victims of 1919, V.N. Datta crafts a unique and first-hand narrative of the most violent event and its legacy in the history of modern India and provides a complex picture of the city of Amritsar, where he grew up. Jallianwala Bagh is a rigorous account of the causes, nature and impact of the carnage that shook the nation and irreparably wounded its collective consciousness. A pathbreaking study that moves the focus away from the frames of imperialism and nationalism, Jallianwala Bagh brings a local and an altogether different scholarly perspective on imperial, racial and military violence in the twentieth century. This highly readable work in its revised edition is of tremendous historical and contemporary value.

This Book Is An Objective Study Of The Events Surounding The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.

Nearly eighty years on and fifty years after India became independent, the Jallianwalal Bagh massacre is still surrounded by controversy. It is an even which many claim as a major turning point in the history of British rule of India. The massacre was a horrific illustration of the Raj at its worst, leading many Indian politicians to the conclusion that independence was the only way forward. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, 1919 is an objective study of the events surrounding the massacre and its aftermath. It looks at how the massacre has been depicted by both Indian and British historian, and by writers of other nationalities. It reveal how the event has been used in arguments for and against the British colonisation of India, and colonialism in general. This study provides a unique objective insight into the massacre and the way it has been portrayed in history. The objective approach shown by the writer may be a reflection of her British Asian background. Savita Narain has lived in Britain all her life, but her family in India had a strong involvement with the independence movement. Her great-uncle, Sir Shiv Prasad, was made President of Ballia region, Uttar Pradesh, when it declared swaraj sarkar (people’s government) from the British on 20 August when the British regained control.

The Amritsar Massacre is an iconic episode that is often compared to Sharpeville or Bloody Sunday. The shooting in 1919 of hundreds of unarmed Indian civilians stands as one of the defining moments in the history of the British Empire and the Indian struggle for independence. Many books have been written on the subject yet none make more than a cursory use of the rich body of visual material connected to one of the most brutal events in the history of British India. Eyewitness to Amritsar includes a unique range of portraits of key historical figures, political cartoons, newspaper photographs, propaganda posters as well as secretly recorded images that were smuggled out of India in 1919. Each image is accompanied by eyewitness accounts to provide context and a chronological narrative covering not only the massacre but also its prelude and aftermath. Eyewitness at Amritsar offers an attractive and accessible resource that allows readers to engage directly with this defining historical event.

Based on a meticulous exploration of the primary sources and oral testimonies of the survivors and victims of 1919, V.N. Datta crafts a unique and first-hand narrative of the most violent event and its legacy in the history of modern India and provides a complex picture of the city of Amritsar, where he grew up. Jallianwala Bagh is a rigorous account of the causes, nature and impact of the carnage that shook the nation and irreparably wounded its collective consciousness. A pathbreaking study that moves the focus away from the frames of imperialism and nationalism, Jallianwala Bagh brings a local and an altogether different scholarly perspective on imperial, racial and military violence in the twentieth century. This highly readable work in its revised edition is of tremendous historical and contemporary value.

On 13 April 1919, General Reginald Dyer marched a squad of Indian soldiers into the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, and opened fire without warning on a crowd gathered to hear political speeches. This is an account of the massacre set in the context of a biography of a man whose attitudes reflected many of the views common in the Raj.

Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the butchering of unarmed innocents, is a historic event that haunts the human mind even after the lapse of a century. 1650 rounds fired in a matter of ten minutes, the blocking of exits, preventing help reaching the injured are all acts of unmitigated bestiality. Through a selection of prose and poetry – The direct outcome of this horrific event and an introduction that traces the history of events leading to the massacre – Rakhshanda Jalil, a literary historian and translator from Urdu and Hindi, attempts to open a window into the world of possibilities that literature offers to reflect, interpret and analyse events of momentous historical import. The selection offers ways of ‘seeing’ history, of exploring how an incident that stirred the conscience of millions, one that had far-reaching implications for the National freedom struggle and British rule, found its way through pen and Paper to reach the nooks and crannies of popular imagination filtered through the mind of the creative writer. The stalwarts and acknowledged doyens of Indian literature featured in this volume include Saadat Hasan Manto, Mulk Raj Anand, Krishna Chander, Abdullah Hussein, Bhisham Sahni, Ghulam Abbas, subadhra Kumari Chauhan, Sarojini Naidu, sohan Singh Misha, Muhammad Iqbal, Josh malihabadi, Nanak Singh, to name a few. A collection that can pave the way for further research.

The “compelling [and] vivid” (The New York Times Book Review) true story of a man who claimed to be a survivor of a 1919 British massacre in India, his elaborate twenty-year plan for revenge, and the mix of truth and legend that made him a hero to hundreds of millions. When Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, ordered Brigadier General Reginald Dyer to Amritsar, he wanted Dyer to bring the troublesome city to heel. Sir Michael had become increasingly alarmed at the effect Gandhi was having on his province, as well as recent demonstrations, strikes, and shows of Hindu-Muslim unity. All these things, to Sir Michael, were a precursor to a second Indian revolt. What happened next shocked the world. An unauthorized gathering in the Jallianwallah Bagh in Amritsar in April 1919 became the focal point for Sir Michael’s law enforcers. Dyer marched his soldiers into the walled public park, blocking the only exit. Then, without issuing any order to disperse, he instructed his men to open fire, turning their guns on the crowd, which numbered in the thousands and included women and children. The soldiers continued firing for ten minutes, stopping only when they ran out of ammunition. According to legend, nineteen-year-old Sikh orphan Udham Singh was injured in the attack, and remained surrounded by the dead and dying until he was able to move the next morning. Then, he supposedly picked up a handful of blood-soaked earth, smeared it across his forehead, and vowed to kill the men responsible. The truth, as the author has discovered, is more complex—but no less dramatic. Award-winning journalist Anita Anand traced Singh’s journey through Africa, the United States, and across Europe until, in March 1940, the young man finally arrived in front of O’Dwyer himself in a London hall ready to shoot him down. The Patient Assassin “mixes Tom Ripley’s con-man-for-all-seasons versatility with Edmond Dantès’s persistence” (The Wall Street Journal) and reveals the incredible but true story behind a legend that still endures today.