In his second talk on the end of British rule in India
Gordon Johnson, Director of the Centre of South Asian Studies in Cambridge, examines how the creation of Pakistan came to be seen as the only way out of a dangerous political impasse. The documentary record has been set out in 12 volumes, The Transfer of Power in India, completed last year.
But, Dr Johnson says, 'British documents alone cannot provide us with a full understanding of why things ended so badly - for it is undeniable that in human terms they did.'