The Patient Assassin

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The Patient Assassin
ISBN
9781471174216

The Patient Assassin, A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj is a 2019 book based on the life of Indian revolutionary

Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre
in Amritsar, India.

Publication

The Patient Assassin is a book by

Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre in Amritsar, India.[1] It has 384 pages and it was launched by Scribner in the United States.[2][3]

Summary

The book is divided into two parts, covering 25 chapters, with a preface and a list of illustrations, endnotes, and bibliography at the end.[4]

Anand's use of a number of archives,[5] and interviews with people who knew Udham Singh, including Lord Indarjit Singh, have contributed to piecing together Singh's story.[6] In addition, an account of Udham Singh's arrest, trial, and hanging are presented using documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.[7][8]

The book begins with an account of 2013, when then UK prime-minister

Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre. Anand explains that her grandfather, Ishwar Das Anand, was one of the civilians in that crowd, and discloses that she has "grown up with its legacy".[4] In 1919, Sir Michael O'Dwyer was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab. Twenty years later, a man named Udham Singh would kill O'Dwyer, and in Anand's words "became the most hated man in Britain, a hero to his countrymen in India, and a pawn in international politics".[4]

Part One has nine chapters and includes details of both Sir Michael O'Dwyer's and Brigadier General Reginald Dyer's lives, before giving the background and account of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.[4][9] Sixteen chapters in Part Two complete the life of Udham Singh, tracing it from his childhood in Punjab to his travels through Germany, Russia, Mexico, California, and ultimately London in 1940, when he reached O'Dwyer and shot him "through the heart at point-blank range".[4][5][9] He gives his name as "Ram Mohammad Singh Azad”.[10]

Reception

William Dalrymple, who previously co-authored a book with Anand, compared The Patient Assassin with Kim A. Wagner's Amritsar 1919. In his review in The Spectator, he notes that both authors used a number of archives in their research. While Wagner's "style is coolly forensic and scholarly", he describes Anand's as "a more warm-blooded approach".[5]

Anthony Khatchaturian in the Dublin Inquirer describes the book as "a straightforward narration of facts, many of them detailed and new".

India Today magazine, described the book as a "giant jigsaw", with a collection of myths and truths relating to Udham Singh's life.[13]

Writing for Outlook, an Indian magazine, Nonica Dutta noted that the author opens a forgotten chapter of Indian revolutionary nationalism.[14] The Indian Express reported the work as the "first competent biography retracing the elusive, enigmatic life" of Udham Singh.[15]

Saudamini Jain, writing for Hindustan Times, noted that Anand had sought evidence from top secret British government documents and used an assortment of characters when piecing together the story of Udham Singh.[16] Nandini Nair, in her book review at Open, called the book a "psychological thriller".[9]

In The Guardian, Ian Jack questions the exact point in time that Udham Singh decided to take revenge. Without firm evidence that he was present at Amritsar on 13 April 1919, Jack suggests that a more precise title may have been "The Wandering Assassin".[7] "Her book isn't perfect", Jack notes, questioning some of Anand's speculations and terminology.[7]

References

  1. ^ Carter, Maxwell (5 July 2019). "Amritsar 1919' and 'The Patient Assassin' Review: Shots Heard Round the Raj". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ISBN 978-1-4711-7421-6
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-5011-9570-9
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-5011-9570-9
    .
  5. ^ a b c Dalrymple, William (6 April 2019). "Bloodbath at Baisakhi: the centenary of the Amritsar massacre". The Spectator. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  6. S2CID 211669990
    .
  7. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  8. ^ Sempa, Francis P. (21 June 2019). ""The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence" by Anita Anand". Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Nair, Nandini (10 April 2019). "Anita Anand: Beyond Myth and Misunderstanding". Open The Magazine. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  10. ISBN 978-1-4711-7424-7
    .
  11. ^ Khatchaturian, Anthony (10 April 2019). "The Patient Assassin, Reviewed". Dublin Inquirer. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  12. ^ a b Rao, Kavitha (2019-05-05). "The talented Mr Udham Singh". Livemint. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  13. ^ Jalil, Rakshanda (1 July 2019). "An uprising of one". India Today. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  14. ^ Datta, Nonica. "Arjuna Saw His Quarry | Outlook India Magazine". Outlook India. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  15. ^ Sarna, Navtej (10 August 2019). "A moving target". The Indian Express. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  16. ^ Jain, Saudamini (13 September 2019). "Book Review: The Patient Assassin by Anita Anand". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
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