HALFWAY TO FREEDOM

In text and photographs, Margaret Bourke-White has distilled the essence of two years study, and two extensive trips through India, in a determination to present all aspects of the face of the new India. She shows the tortuous steps by which the sacredness of feudal privilege is giving way to the 20th century concepts of human equality. She discusses the steps of change in industry, in labor relations, in the caste system, in education, in village and city life. She describes in heartbreaking detail the tragic conflict between Hindu and Moslem, the population shift, the violence- and Gandhi's final fast in protest which won to uneasy truce. She visits the new republic of India, Pakistan, the princely states. She describes the strides Kashmir has taken towards democracy. She makes one feel that India has turned towards the future, away from the past. Brilliant reporting.