Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War

Nonfiction, History, Asian, India, Military, World War II, Biography & Memoir, Historical
Cover of the book Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War by Raghu Karnad, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Raghu Karnad ISBN: 9780393248104
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: August 24, 2015
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Raghu Karnad
ISBN: 9780393248104
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: August 24, 2015
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

“I have not lately read a finer book than this—on any subject at all. . . . A masterpiece.” —Simon Winchester, New Statesman

The photographs of three young men had stood in his grandmother’s house for as long as he could remember, beheld but never fully noticed. They had all fought in the Second World War, a fact that surprised him. Indians had never figured in his idea of the war, nor the war in his idea of India. One of them, Bobby, even looked a bit like him, but Raghu Karnad had not noticed until he was the same age as they were in their photo frames. Then he learned about the Parsi boy from the sleepy south Indian coast, so eager to follow his brothers-in-law into the colonial forces and onto the front line. Manek, dashing and confident, was a pilot with India’s fledgling air force; gentle Ganny became an army doctor in the arid North-West Frontier. Bobby’s pursuit would carry him as far as the deserts of Iraq and the green hell of the Burma battlefront.

The years 1939–45 might be the most revered, deplored, and replayed in modern history. Yet India’s extraordinary role has been concealed, from itself and from the world. In riveting prose, Karnad retrieves the story of a single family—a story of love, rebellion, loyalty, and uncertainty—and with it, the greater revelation that is India’s Second World War.

Farthest Field narrates the lost epic of India’s war, in which the largest volunteer army in history fought for the British Empire, even as its countrymen fought to be free of it. It carries us from Madras to Peshawar, Egypt to Burma—unfolding the saga of a young family amazed by their swiftly changing world and swept up in its violence.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“I have not lately read a finer book than this—on any subject at all. . . . A masterpiece.” —Simon Winchester, New Statesman

The photographs of three young men had stood in his grandmother’s house for as long as he could remember, beheld but never fully noticed. They had all fought in the Second World War, a fact that surprised him. Indians had never figured in his idea of the war, nor the war in his idea of India. One of them, Bobby, even looked a bit like him, but Raghu Karnad had not noticed until he was the same age as they were in their photo frames. Then he learned about the Parsi boy from the sleepy south Indian coast, so eager to follow his brothers-in-law into the colonial forces and onto the front line. Manek, dashing and confident, was a pilot with India’s fledgling air force; gentle Ganny became an army doctor in the arid North-West Frontier. Bobby’s pursuit would carry him as far as the deserts of Iraq and the green hell of the Burma battlefront.

The years 1939–45 might be the most revered, deplored, and replayed in modern history. Yet India’s extraordinary role has been concealed, from itself and from the world. In riveting prose, Karnad retrieves the story of a single family—a story of love, rebellion, loyalty, and uncertainty—and with it, the greater revelation that is India’s Second World War.

Farthest Field narrates the lost epic of India’s war, in which the largest volunteer army in history fought for the British Empire, even as its countrymen fought to be free of it. It carries us from Madras to Peshawar, Egypt to Burma—unfolding the saga of a young family amazed by their swiftly changing world and swept up in its violence.

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book The Dynamics of Disaster by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book A Gentleman's Guide to Graceful Living: A Novel by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Against Sunset: Poems by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Why?: Explaining the Holocaust by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book The Art of Freedom: Teaching the Humanities to the Poor by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book The Republic of Poetry: Poems by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Lost Lake: Stories by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Love Warps the Mind a Little: A Novel by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired: Living with Invisible Chronic Illness (New Edition) by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book The Limits of Organization by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Practical Social Skills for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Designing Child-Specific Interventions by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Nobody's Son: A Memoir by Raghu Karnad
Cover of the book Lebanon: A House Divided by Raghu Karnad
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy