Partition Voices
Untold British Stories
Published on 11. July 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-4088-9908-3 (ISBN)
Description
Dotted across homes in Britain are people who were witnesses to one of the most tumultuous events of the twentieth century. Yet their memory of India's partition has been shrouded in silence. Kavita Puri's father was twelve when he found himself one of the millions of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims caught up in the devastating aftermath of a hastily drawn border. For seventy years he remained silent - like so many - about the horrors he had seen.
When her father finally spoke out, opening up a forgotten part of Puri's family history, she was compelled to seek out the stories of South Asians who were once subjects of the British Raj, and are now British citizens. Determined to preserve these accounts - of the end of Empire and the difficult birth of two nations - here Puri records a series of remarkable first-hand testimonies, as well as those of their children and grandchildren whose lives are shaped by partition's legacy. With empathy, nuance and humanity, Puri weaves a breathtaking tapestry of human experience over a period of seven decades that trembles with life; an epic of ruptured families and friendships, extraordinary journeys and daring rescue missions that reverberates with pain, loss and compassion.
The division of the Indian subcontinent happened far away, but it is also a very British story. Many of those affected by partition are now part of the fabric of British contemporary life, but their lives continue to be touched by this traumatic event. Partition Voices breaks the silence and confronts the difficult truths at the heart of Britain's shared history with South Asia.
When her father finally spoke out, opening up a forgotten part of Puri's family history, she was compelled to seek out the stories of South Asians who were once subjects of the British Raj, and are now British citizens. Determined to preserve these accounts - of the end of Empire and the difficult birth of two nations - here Puri records a series of remarkable first-hand testimonies, as well as those of their children and grandchildren whose lives are shaped by partition's legacy. With empathy, nuance and humanity, Puri weaves a breathtaking tapestry of human experience over a period of seven decades that trembles with life; an epic of ruptured families and friendships, extraordinary journeys and daring rescue missions that reverberates with pain, loss and compassion.
The division of the Indian subcontinent happened far away, but it is also a very British story. Many of those affected by partition are now part of the fabric of British contemporary life, but their lives continue to be touched by this traumatic event. Partition Voices breaks the silence and confronts the difficult truths at the heart of Britain's shared history with South Asia.
Reviews / Votes
Partition Voices is probably the closest thing to a partition memorial currently on offer ... Heartfelt and beautifully judged -- John Keay * Literary Review * Kavita Puri's book is the most humane account of partition I've read ... Partition Voices is important because Puri does not flinch as she dissects the tumultuous event, never shying away from the trauma ... We need a candid conversation about our past and this is an essential starting point -- Nikesh Shukla * Observer * An original and moving collection of testimonies from British Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus about the transformative era of India's partition -- Books of the Summer * Guardian * With a masterful mix of history, biography and contemporary reportage, Puri crafts a fascinating account of the living memory of South Asia in modern Britain. This book brings together a rich and disparate chronicle of lives ripped apart and remade by the trauma of partition, and deftly traces how the diaspora of post-colonial India and Pakistan helped to reshape the UK. Perceptive, enriching, shocking and joyful, Puri's is a powerful and courageous book for multicultural Britain -- Tristram Hunt An intimate, moving and important book by a daughter of partition. Kavita Puri reveals untold stories of those who lived through one of the most violent political earthquakes of the twentieth century. These are stories we need to hear -- Kirsty Wark A powerful and timely work. Kavita Puri coaxes often unspeakable and unspoken memories from a time of unimaginable trauma. A must-read for those interested in the fault lines in today's geopolitics -- Anita Anand Powerful, compelling and heartbreaking - these are stories of division and conflict rescued from the past that offer valuable lessons for the present -- Sarfraz Manzoor Partition Voices takes its place alongside other valuable books on partition such as Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan and Urvashi Butalia's The Other Side of Silence -- Amit Roy * Eastern Eye * The most extraordinary book. The prologue already had me in tears. This is history - often being told out loud for the very first time -- Emily Maitlis An evocative book that leaves you breathless with its human predicament and gives voice to stories long held prisoner to silence ... Nobody has ever brought out the stories of South Asians now settled in the United Kingdom ... Kudos to Kavita Puri for documenting Partition's lasting legacy in Britain, an irony in itself. It is a unique book, one that lives with you long after the stories end -- Ziya Us Salam * Frontline Magazine * Puri's excellent book is a welcome antidote to British amnesia over its colonial legacy. Partition is not just an Indian story, it is a British one too * All About History * Partition Voices is a book of witness and testimony that should have the widest readership possible. It brings the difficulty of how we pass on stories across generations into a moving and beautiful focus ... An essential book, remarkable in its reach and power * Edmund de Waal *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4088-9908-3 (9781408899083)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Kavita Puri works in BBC Current Affairs and is an award-winning TV executive producer and radio broadcaster. Her landmark three-part series Partition Voices for BBC Radio 4 won the Royal Historical Society's Radio and Podcast Award and its overall Public History Prize. Her critically acclaimed Radio 4 series, Three Pounds in My Pocket, charts the social history of British South Asians from the post-war years. She is currently making the third series. She worked for many years at Newsnight and studied Law at Cambridge University.
@kavpuri
@kavpuri