The Patient Assassin
A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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- €7.99
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- €7.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE
'Reads like something from a thriller…colourful, detailed and meticulously researched' Sunday Times
‘Gripping from start to finish' Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
Hundreds of peaceful civilians were slaughtered in the Amritsar Massacre of 13 April 1919, after British troops opened fire without warning. According to legend, Udham Singh was among the injured that day, and he vowed to take revenge. More than twenty years later, in a Westminster hall, he fulfilled that promise when he gunned down in cold blood the man ultimately responsible, Sir Michael O'Dwyer.
But what happened in the intervening years? In this sweeping narrative that takes the reader across four continents, Anita Anand separates reality from myth to reveal Singh's astonishing story. She brilliantly pieces together his movements, discovering surprising new links that take us from Jazz Age New York to the shady world of international spy rings. The Patient Assassin shines a devastating light on one of the Raj's most horrific events, but reads like a taut thriller.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Biographer and BBC host Anand (Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary) delivers a gripping, multifaceted tale of India in the twilight years of the British Empire, about Udham Singh, who bided his time for 20 years until he could exact revenge for the 1919 British massacre of Indians in a public garden in Amritsar, Punjab. On April 13, 1919, British Brig. Gen. Reginald Dyer, hearing of an illegal political meeting in the walled garden, ordered his soldiers to fire on 20,000 unarmed people, many of whom were picnicking and strolling. The lieutenant governor of Punjab, Sir Michael O'Dwyer, praised Dyer's actions and subsequently endorsed punitive laws to increase control over his Indian subjects, fueling the people's growing desire for independence. At the heart of this story is the enigmatic Singh, who fatally shot O'Dwyer in London in 1940 and was executed. A charmer, con man, and assassin, Singh drew people to him yet remained a mystery even to his close friends. Anand diligently follows the circuitous trail of Singh's life, piecing together his various aliases, addresses, jobs, and international travels, and exploring his work distributing literature, recruiting, and gun-running for the Ghadars, an Indian revolutionary organization. This vivid and meticulously researched account will have readers riveted.
