I have just seen this new film ‘Viceroy’s House’ about Partition today at the Regal Cinema in Henley. Annoyingly I fell asleep at the crucial moment when the line of Partition was decided; the seats are very comfortable! The film is OK and visually excellent but I have had to spend the entire evening exploring the Cabinet Mission (not mentioned), Jinnah (did he really want Pakistan to be outside India), and were Jinnah and Earl Mountbatten duped by a plan made two years before the hapless Ratcliffe had to draw the line? These questions are still hanging in the air.

In this evening’s study I came across an excellent two-year old article by William Dalrymple about the EEIC and ‘Loot‘. I commend it you and the hyperlink should take you there. Well worth reading, good history well applied. I can’t find the book though so maybe the prolific Mr Dalrymple is still struggling with it. Please let me know if you have found it.