Blood Telegram, The: India's Secret War In East Pakistan by Gary J. Bass (2013-12-27)

Title not apt: The telegram by Blood is just a two-minute part in the entire 3-hour movie. It could neither stop the war nor influence the outcome. Perhaps the author wanted to have a dramatic title.Subtitle damaging to India: it sounds as if India is the wrongdoer while it was only defending itself when the whole world refused to support her. It can also sound like "Blood Telegram About India's Secret War", which is wrong.The author deserves credit for all the hard work, research and investigation. The book gives a wealth of information on the subject. The war was a result of two villains, Nixon and Kissinger, and one rogue, Yahya Khan, backed by them. Millions were killed in a brutal way just to satisfy their lust for power and glory. Nixon and Kissinger are no different from the other monsters like Saddam Hussein and bin Laden. Indians, Pakistanis and Americans should know what happened.For the purist reader: the text needs cleaning up at several places. Also, Sunil Khilnani's statement "Devastating... eviscerating" is just hyperbole.

A very well researched book. The book gives a lot of insight into the foreign policies of many countries, primarily US, and also USSR and China to a lot of extent. An excellent book for those interested in strategic tactics intertwined with politics and military warfare. Very interesting read overall!What I liked the most about the book is the insight it gave into the personal qualities of Nixon, Yahya, Kissinger, Zhou Enlai and Indira Gandhi. Thus you are able to put yourself in their shoes and see how they are taking decisions.The book mostly follows a chronological order of occurrences. So it is easy to imagine the entire thing happening along with all the cause and effects.Lastly, the book is not a war history but an intertwined narrative of political and military tactics. So those interested in the military tactical details of 1971 war won't get a lot from this book, except may be an overview. Read it if you are interested in the politics that leads to the war.

I have received the book with atleast 40% of it from back cover to upwards was drenched . After dried it with lot of efforts and precautions its pages turned crippled.As I have received this book after two cancelletion by Amazone so this time I compelled to retain the book as it is a great possession and difficult to get.As a book it is worthy.But the content demand more caring and respect in terms of print and publication.

One of the most definitive , descriptive and ruthless accounts of America's damaging foreign policy which had sown seeds for a unstable Indian subcontinent . Also reflecting the kissinger- nixon apathy to the people of an area where america had no interest,candidly put by the author , it describes the shifting of power balance between India and Pakistan. A must read.

Reading through the book is living through the hell and horror that was left behind and understanding why it all happened the way it did. Exemplary work of research and documentation. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the history of that period.