by Nick Lloyd
First published 2011
On April 13, 1919, Brigadier-General Rex Dyer marches his soldiers through Amritsar's streets toward the Jallianwala Bagh, a walled garden where thousands have gathered for what he believes is an illegal political meeting. At 5:10 pm, Dyer commands his men to form ranks and open fire on the trapped crowd. Within minutes, 379 people lie dead and over 1,000 wounded in what becomes known as the Amritsar Massacre. Nick Lloyd reconstructs this pivotal moment that would reshape the final decades of British rule in India. He examines the historical forces that led to this tragedy while tracing how the massacre galvanized Indian resistance against colonial authority. Lloyd challenges prevailing myths about the event and presents fresh analysis of the decisions made that day. The book confronts the central question of whether Dyer's actions constituted a tragic error in judgment or deliberate murder, exploring how this single afternoon fatally damaged Britain's hold on the subcontinent.
Genres: history, 20th-century, military-history, academic
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-events, political-intrigue
Setting: Amritsar, India
Period: 1919
288 pages · Hardcover · I.B.Tauris
Content warnings: colonialism, graphic-violence, violence