In 1947, when India achieved independence, Britain portrayed the transfer of power as the outcome of decades, even centuries, of responsible planning - the honourable discharge of an historic responsibility. That view has never been seriously challenged in Britain. But this book shows that the official narrative is a travesty of what really happened.Drawing on the documentary evidence - letters, diaries, state papers - Walter Reid reveals how Britain selfishly deceived and prevaricated in order to arrest political progress in India for as long as possible - a shameful passage in British imperial policy which led to tragedy and untold suffering when independence finally became inevitable.