The Foreign Service Journal, June 2023

76 JUNE 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Second, during the 1942-1943 famine in India, Churchill as prime minister essentially ignored the prob- lemand refused to divert resources away fromother areas more directly involved with the war.This failure of the colonial administrative system resulted in 3million dead and permanent damage to the Indian body politic. And last, Churchill’s effective resis- tance to the independence movement as prime minister during the war years prevented any serious planning and preparation so that when independence came in 1947, it was accompanied by the horrors of partition, the political strug- gles in the subcontinent, and resulting decades of conflict and insecurity. Rana’s story is not a simple debunk- ing of Churchill nor a personal attack. As he states: “Churchill has extraordinary achievements to his credit, not just lim- ited to his World War II leadership; one cannot study his life without developing admiration for the depth and breadth of his genius. But he remains responsible for all the damage he did in mishandling the endgame of British India, and his India-related misdeeds.” Ambassador Rana, a distinguished Indian diplomat (retired) and prolific writer on diplomatic history and practice, presents a convincing interpretation of historic events in this book. In addition to a new insight into the life and role of Winston Churchill, there is a revealing discussion of the politics and administration of colonial policy that took place in the imperial capital, far away from the colony itself. Both old India hands and Churchill aficionados should find this study thought-provoking. n Edward Marks is a retired Senior Foreign Service officer and ambassador, and a longtime AFSA member and former chair of the FSJ Editorial Board. His career memoir, A Professional Foreigner , was published in the spring of this year by the University of Nebraska Press in cooperation with the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.