Churchill's Secret War

The British Empire and the Ravaging of India During World War II

By: Madhusree Mukarjee

Narrated by: James Adams

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

In the tradition of The Rape of Nanking and A Problem from Hell, this account will change the way we think of Churchill and World War II.

In 1943 Winston Churchill and the British Empire needed millions of Indian troops, all of India's industrial output, and tons of Indian grain to support the Allied war effort. Such massive contributions were certain to trigger famine in India. Because Churchill believed that the fate of the British Empire hung in the balance, he proceeded, sacrificing millions of Indian lives in order to preserve what he held most dear. The result: the Bengal Famine of 1943-44, in which millions of villagers starved to death.

Relying on extensive archival research and first-hand interviews, Mukerjee weaves a riveting narrative of Churchill's decisions to ratchet up the demands on India as the war unfolded and to ignore the corpses piling up in the Bengali countryside. The hypocrisy, racism, and extreme economic conditions of two centuries of British colonial policy finally built to a head, leading Indians to fight for their independence in 1947.

Few Americans know that World War II was won on the backs of these starving peasants; Mukerjee shows us a side of World War II that we have been blind to. We know what Hitler did to the Jews, what the Japanese did to the Chinese, what Stalin did to his own people. This story has largely been neglected, until now.

©2010 Madhusree Mukarjee (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[W]ell-researched…This gripping account of historical tragedy is a useful corrective to fashionable theories of benign imperial rule, arguing that a brutal rapaciousness was the very soul of the Raj." ( Publishers Weekly)

Westerners forget this part of WWII

Author Madhusree Mukarjee deserves credit for bringing attention to a part of WWII that Westerners have conveniently forgotten - over a million Indians died of starvation caused at least party by British demands for India to provide supplies during WWII.

However, the author goes too far in implying repeatedly that Indians would be rich people if the British would disappear. The reality is that most Indians have no ability to earn money and anyway they have lots of babies and cannot support those babies.

The narration was very good.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"

A great book hampered by extremely poor narrator

This is an important and well written book but I would recommend people to either find a different audiobook or just buy a printed copy of it. The narrator did not even put 30 seconds of his life in some basic research. Imagine narrating the story of another country and consistently mis pronouncing the names. How much of an effort is it to learn the correct pronunciation? Bose become Bosé, Jawaharlal become some new mythical beast from Earthsea and who knows what.

It was infuriating listening to him and wish he never does another one involving India or anything else really.

an eye opener

Churchill is no less evil than Hitler, this historic narration is an eyeopener for folks interested in Indian History

History & why we repeat!

Unknown to me in detail, masterful narrative on the man I somewhat knew or so I thought.
Required reading for understanding WWI & WWII and India / Pakistan today.

Revealing story, bad pronunciation.

It's very interesting to hear Mukerjee's analysis of the Bengal famine of 1943. The narrator was annoying with his constant mispronunciation of Indian names ("Bosay" instead of "Bose" being the most common error), and constantly refering to dates as, for example, "twenty-two February" instead of "twenty-second February". No names of British origin were mispronounced though!

Unknown history for me

What did you love best about Churchill's Secret War?

I was not aware of this part of WWII history and it is certainly something I should have been aware of. While parts of the book are hard to listen to, particularly the suffering and dying of the starving, it is compelling listening.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Churchill met Indira Ghandi during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Nice insight

The book is narrated well. Story is has some lesser known characters. Overall nice read

Repressed history

It must be a required reading in Indian schools at least at higher education.

The book shows Churchill for what he really was. He did what mattered to him so perhaps he had a rationale for his actions. Indians must know that we weren’t always the miserable lot we think ourselves as. We were made so. Our own weaknesses shouldn’t be ignored in this. It was really the show of ‘May the best win’. We weren’t strong enough but ‘Never again’.

Also, eye opening is that how Indians themselves enslaved and repressed their own for greed and self survival.

The fanboyism for Gurkhas would also take a solid blow after this and the anglophile would reinspect their amnesty towards the empire.

Also, how Racism is perhaps the most dangerous force on this planet also comes to light. Hitler and Churchill were perhaps brothers in their thinking and behaviour.

I have a renewed respect for the much maligned Bengalis and the revered Punjabis. Perhaps, I may be wrong, Bengal and Punjab bore the brunt of the pain inflicted on India more than anywhere else. The role of US in India is also highlighted.

This also makes it clear why it is important to be vigilant towards our freedom and the values that we hold dear to our heart.

Weakness and segregation should be condemned and eradicated in a constant struggle. The first step towards that would be to know the real history and not the sanitised version.

The narrator of the book absolutely butchered the Indian names to the extent that one must read the book to understand the correct names. He should have atleast tried.

Interesting angle on the War

I thought I was well read on the general subject of the Second World War, at least in terms of the Western Allies, until I read this book. I even took a University course on the History of the British Empire and Commonwealth, and I don't recall any discussion of the war time famines in India. This is clearly written from the Indian point of view, and there are some conclusions which seem speculative. Overall, the book is quite damning of Imperial policy and the comparisons between food requirements for the home islands and India, are a stark comparison. I particularly enjoyed deepening my understanding of the conflict and the post war Independence and Partition of India. The audio version is read by an English narrator which adds some interesting flavor somehow.

Churchill from a different, lesser known, perspective.

Book is very detailed account of the Bengal famine, and role of British empire in it. A tragedy not talked about enough. I agree will all other reviews that it is painful to repeatedly hear the narrator mispronounce names of national freedom fighters and places.