A few days ago, I finally got to the part of this book I wanted to read: India’s independence. I first learned of Mountbatten many years ago, when I was preparing myself for a trip to India and reading everything I could about the subcontinent.

I eventually came across Freedom at Midnight, which is a brilliant book centering on Gandhi’s biography and perspective. Mountbatten’s biography, which is the one I’m reading now, is, of course, based on his perspective. And this is what makes reading both books so unique.

There are other important players in this history, and I hope to learn more about their point of view in the future. For now, I am simply fascinated by what I’m learning from this book, enjoying each new page more than the previews one. To be honest, this moment is what kept me reading it. Even though it is a well-written book, it is also massive and contains so much detail.

In any case, although it was an almost boring read so far, looking back, I now find it invaluable to have learned more about Mountbatten’s personal life and professional trajectory prior to his role in India’s independence. But his participation in the country’s history was definitely what I was looking forward to since the day I started reading this book.

I have always been fascinated by history, which ultimately led me to pursue a postgraduate degree in International Affairs. But what you may not know is that after that I began a Master’s degree program in history. Unfortunately, life had other plans for me and I never finished it.

I’m a huge fan of history because the paths we took as a society in the past explain a lot about the world we live in today. Which also makes me sad because it seems like as a society we often take too long to learn. It appears to be so difficult for our species. We frequently start over again after moving forward.

Anyway, I feel that after this book, it is time to take a break and invest more time into another passion of mine, cognitive psychology. I don’t know if that will make me less sad about humanity, though.