dated August 30, 1951: Mountbatten Mission annals

The Hindu had secured serialisation rights of a new book, Mission With Mountbatten, written by Alan Campbell-Johnson, to be published by Robert Hale, London. It was the first full-length inside story of the great development by which the British Crown transferred power to amputated India and the newly-created nation of Pakistan in the fateful month of August 1947. That development had been brought about by the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, who obtained the consent of Indian leaders for his proposals. To assist him, Lord Mountbatten had gathered a high-powered staff, headed by Lord Ismay. Campbell-Johnson, who had already written two biographies on Anthony Eden and Viscount Halifax, was a member of that team. In his capacity as Press Attache (a post without precedent in Viceregal annals) to the last Viceroy, and first Governor-General of the Indian Dominion, Campbell-Johnson discharged one of the most momentous of public relations jobs. He kept daily notes of his experiences, and so found himself in a position of being able to draw not just from documents and data of others, but from his personal role as witness to the making of history. In his book, the author had recorded the dramatic effect of the interplay of great personalities in India's hour of crucial decision: Mahatma Gandhi, M.A. Jinnah, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru, Liaqat Ali Khan, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, C. Rajagopalachari, the Nizam of Hyderabad and, of course, the Viceroy and his wife, Lady Edwina.

Historian C.S. Srinivasachari dead

Well-known historian, Professor C.S. Srinivasachari, died in George Town, Madras, on the 29th. He was 61, and survived by his wife, five sons and two daughters. He had been appointed a member of a Government of India committee to compile an authentic history of the Indian Freedom Movement. Scion of a South Arcot family, C.S.R. was educated in the Panchaiyappa's High School, Chidambaram, and in the Pachaiyappa's College, Madras. Graduating in 1909, he launched on a distinguished career as teacher. His major works were: History of the Pallavas, History of the City of Madras, Ananda Ranga Pillai, History of Gingee and its Rulers, and Vignettes from the History of the Walajahi Dynasty of the Carnatic.

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