Britain and Indian Nationalism: The Imprint of Amibiguity, 1929-1942

India's struggle for independence was arguably the most momentous of the twentieth century, and central to it was the generation of powerful nationalist forces. In a series of detailed studies Anthony Low shows how the ambiguity of the British position conditioned the distinctive character of this struggle: how the British determination to hold fast their Indian empire (unlike the Americans in the Philippines) prior to 1942 was nonetheless complemented by a reluctance to resist their nationalist opponents in the unyielding ways of the French in Vietnam and the Dutch in Indochina. Much that Gandhi did, Professor Low concludes, would have been unnecessary in the Philippines and impossible in Indonesia and Vietnam, but astutely fitted the peculiar conditions of the nationalist struggle against the British in India. Published on the fiftieth anniversary of Indian independence, Britain and Indian Nationalism makes a major contribution to the historiography of modern India, to Britain's relations with its empire, and to the history of decolonisation in the twentieth century.--Publisher description

On the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of Indian independence Anthony Low examines anew the distinctive character of perhaps the most momentous struggle of the twentieth century. He shows how the struggle was conditioned by the ambiguity of the British position, determined to hold fast to their Indian empire yet reluctant to offer unyielding resistance to their nationalist opponents. Britain and Indian Nationalism makes a major contribution to the historiography of modern India, to Britain's relations with its empire, and to the history of decolonization in the twentieth century.

On 8 November 1927 Lord Birkenhead, Britain's Secretary of State for India, announced the appointment of a statutory commission under the chairmanship of the Liberal politician, Sir John Simon, to review the Indian constitution. Anthony Low examines the distinctive character of the most momentous independence struggle of the twentieth century D.a. Low. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.