India’s Wars: A Military History, 1947-1971

The armed forces occupy a special position in Indian society. Yet, standard accounts of contemporary Indian history rarely have a military dimension. In India’s Wars, serving Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam seeks to give India’s military exploits their rightful place. Beginning with a snapshot of the growth of the armed forces, he provides detailed accounts of the principal conflicts from Independence to 1971: the first India-Pakistan war of 1947-48, the liberation of Hyderabad and Junagadh, the campaign to evict the Portuguese from Goa in 1961, and the full-blown conventional wars against China and Pakistan. Laced with veterans’ exhilarating experiences in combat operations, India’s Wars fuses the strategic, operational, tactical and human dimensions of war with great finesse. Deeply researched and passionately written, it unfolds with surprising ease and offers a fresh perspective on modern Indian history.