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Freedom at Midnight  By  cover art

Freedom at Midnight

By: Dominique Lapierre, Larry Collins
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
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Publisher's summary

This is the story of the eclipse of the British Raj and the birth of an independent India and Pakistan. The fabled India of the maharajas, with their palaces and harems, their gold-caparisoned elephants and their glittering private armies—the India of Kipling’s legendary army, with its young British officers commanding troops of a dozen races, religions, and castes—the India of tiger hunts and pigsticking, of sadhus and holy men— the India that was the heart and soul of an empire—underwent a violent transformation into the new India of Gandhi and Nehru, precursor of the Third World. At the center of this drama are Nehru, Jinnah, Mountbatten and, of course, Gandhi, the gentle prophet of revolution, who stirred the masses of the most populous area on earth without raising his voice.

©1975 Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre (P)1993 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

“The song of India...illuminated like scenes in a pageant.” ( Time)
“Thrilling...staggers the imagination.” ( Daily Mail)
“Davidson sounds like a whole cast of characters himself.” ( Kliatt)

What listeners say about Freedom at Midnight

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My man crush on Frederick Davidson continues!

In this reading, Frederick Davidson uses his velvet British accent and it is the best!

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great history of an important story

They require at least 15 words. Here they are. Oops. I need six more. Done now.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

For the true history buff

This book is super detailed. The narrative framework and construct is well done but I could have gone with an abridged version because the author gives every single detail for every story

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good book , Bad narration

This is a classic !! BUT The pronunciations are atrocious I wish they had researched the text and languages

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Annoying narration, made the story boring

The accent of the British narrator is annoying, and when speaks as Ghandi in the first person he switches to a pseudo Indian accent. Really??!
The story is remarkable but written in a boring way, which when combined with the unenjoyable narrator made me wish I’d picked a different title to listen to.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

biased retelling of events around independence

narrator doesn't pronounce Hindi words correctly, given that it's an audio book it's appalling.
the story of partition and role of the leaders in it is very engaging

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4 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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racist to it's core

this book has been quoted several times in documentaries.. I can't believe such medieval racist book is still sold..

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Pseudohistory

The author is extremely biased and the book very misleading. Reads more like an NYT op-ed

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Awful - Need for diversity

Audible continues to display the callous disregard for diverse voices. As an Indian I find the delivery an accent of the narrator almost insulting. For a topic that was so fraught with conflicting emotions and events, having a British accent which has overtones of privilege rather than a neutral continental accent seems almost intolerable.

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9 people found this helpful