Recorded Books Inc. - Liberty or death: Indias journey to independence and division

The spy chief Philip Vickery as a young police officer at the Delhi durbar of 1911. (Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library)

The Mahatma strides out: Mohandas Gandhi and his entourage on the epic salt march of 1930. (Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya)

Hopie and Doreen. Their Excellencies the Marquess and Marchioness of Linlithgow during a garden party at Viceroys House in New Delhi. (John Glendevon, The Viceroy at Bay)

Subhas Chandra Bose after being elected as President of Congress at Haripura in 1938. (Sunil Janah)

Stafford Cripps, Abul Kalam Azad and Jawaharlal Nehru outside the Secretariat of the Government of India in New Delhi in 1942. (R.R. Bharadwaj)

An Indian maid with bangles on: Leo Amery, Ramaswami Mudaliar, the Jam Saheb and Winston Churchill in the garden at 10 Downing Street. (Topix)

Quit India! A photograph taken for the Communist Party newspaper Peoples, War of burning police vehicles in a Calcutta street. (Sunil Janah)

Two obstinate old men: M.A. Jinnah and M.K. Gandhi feign friendship after their abortive talks in Bombay in 1944. (Sunil Janah)

Simla, 1945. The Viceroy Lord Wavell greets Sir Khizar Hyat Khan Tiwana, watched by Dr Khan Sahib. (Penderel Moon (ed.), Wavell: The Viceroys Journal)

Simla, 1945. A newly released Pant, a nervous Jinnah, an inscrutable Rajagopalachari, the Assamese leader Mohammad Saadulla, and a tense Azad. (Penderel Moon (ed.), Wavell: The Viceroys Journal)

Simla, 1945. The Sikh leader Master Tara Singh on his way to the conference. (Penderel Moon (ed.), Wavell: The Viceroys Journal)

Other Mens Flowers: Archie Wavell after being garlanded at the Lingaraj Mandir in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. (Penderel Moon (ed.), Wavell: The Viceroys Journal)

Jawaharlal Nehru addressing a meeting of the All-India Congress Committee. (Sunil Janah)

Mohandas Gandhi. (Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya)

A rare photograph showing Chakravarti Rajagopalacharis eyes. (Sunil Janah)

The Congress politician Sarojini Naidu. (Sunil Janah)

Organizers of political rallies such as this one in Bengal were required to provide a table and chair for the ubiquitous Special Branch shorthand reporter. (Sunil Janah)

The dapper Muslim League leaders Liaquat Ali Khan and Mohammad Ali Jinnah during emergency talks at Downing Street in December 1946. (Penderel Moon (ed.), Wavell: The Viceroys Journal)

The end-game: Archie Wavell and Freddie Pethick-Lawrence on their way to see the Prime Minister in December 1946. (Illustrated London News Picture Library)

Street painting of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose dressed as the Supreme Commander of the Indian National Army.

Calcutta, 1946. A temporary moment of HinduMuslim unity. (Sunil Janah)

Vallabhbhai Patel. (B. Krishna/Gandhi Memorial, Rajghat)

The momentum of our previous prestige: Mountbatten takes over the remains of British power from Wavell in March 1947. (Illustrated London News Picture Library)

Dickie Mountbatten and Mohandas Gandhi at their first meeting, 1 April 1947. (Associated Press)

The founder of Pakistan, the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, portrayed as an Islamic hero by a street artist.

Street painting of Pakistans first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan.

The back-seat driver: Sardar Patel and Pandit Nehru. (B. Krishna/Homai Vyarawalla)

V.P. Menon, the civil servant who formulated the plan under which British rule in India came to an end. (PIB, New Delhi)

The Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru with Lord and Lady Mountbatten on the day of Indias independence. (Associated Press)

Muslim families from east Punjab in a refugee camp in Lahore. (Charles Still Collection)

Hindu families from east Bengal fleeing their village by boat. (Sunil Janah)

The light has gone out: a man shields himself from the Calcutta sun on the morning after Mahatma Gandhis murder. (Sunil Janah)

Looking inexpressibly sad and careworn, and surrounded by a crowd of nearly a million people, Pandit Nehru accompanies his mentors corpse to its cremation. (Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya)

badmash a villain

bania a Hindu from the shopkeeper or merchant caste

bhajan a Hindu holy song

Bharat the official Indian name for India, sometimes used with Hindu nationalist overtones

brahmacharya celibacy

brahmin a Hindu from the highest, originally priestly, caste

chappal a sandal

chowkidar a guard or watchman

chunni a scarf worn by a woman

churidar wrinkled pajama trousers worn by men, baggy at the top and tight at the ankle

dacoit a bandit

dalit a Hindu outside the caste system, sometimes referred to as an untouchable

dhaba a roadside eating place

dharma religious duty

dhoti a loincloth worn by men

durbar a ceremonial court assembly

fatwa a decree issued by a Muslim religious leader