The Second World War was not fought by Britain alone. India produced the largest volunteer army in history: over 2 million men. However, so far, there has not been a comprehensive narrative of India's tumultuous home front and the connection between the war and the country's society. In the work The Raj at War, we hear the numerous voices of ordinary Indian people, from the first Indian to win the Victoria Cross to the three soldiers imprisoned as 'traitors of the Raj' and returned as heroes, from the nurses in Indian General Hospitals to the workers and their families in remote villages. Yasmin Khan presents India's overlooked history in the war and shows how the mobilization for the war unleashed seismic processes of economic, cultural, and social change – processes that significantly influenced the international war effort, the dissolution of the empire, and India's political trajectory.

Pages: 448, Dimensions: 13x13cm