The book should have been named “The lives and lies of the Mountbattens”.The author seems more fixated on Dickie and Edwina Mountbatten than the political events of the summer of 1947. Like most of the books of this genre, it is slow and dragging in the beginning but suddenly picks up pace during the last chapters. Tunzelmann has put in a great effort to bring out the complexity in the characters of Nehru and Gandhi though I felt Patel and Jinnah’s role was ignored. The book is filled with amusing trivia and anecdotes which makes it bearable during the lull phases.