His observations on the build-up to this appalling tragedy have the added value of being untainted by hindsight, and though many may not agree with all his opinions, few will deny that the views he expressed at the time have stood up to the judgement of history remarkably well. Nehru, Gandhi, Jinnah, Baldev, Wavell, Mountbatten, Cripps - they and many, many more come under the critical eye of the young colonel as he watches them unwittingly setting the scene for the great massacre that was to come. Auchinleck, of course, occupies the centre of the stage as seen from Hamid's seat, and to watch this formidably honest and upright man struggling to save the army he had loved and served for so many years makes compelling reading. Here is tragedy on the grandest scale and Gen Hamid proves himself a worthy chronicler thereof.