Seventy-five years ago, India attained its independence. What was it like to be an ordinary citizen during that time? How did they celebrate the first Independence Day? What was the atmosphere like on the streets, in cities and towns and faraway villages? How did the people feel? And how do they feel today about the country they witnessed being born?

In this extraordinarily moving book, fifteen Indians from across the country tell their stories of their first Independence Day– some were no more than four or five, others, young adults about to enter college. Some lived in far-off places without the newspaper or the radio to give them the news; some had never seen an Englishman and didn’t know what freedom meant.Others lived in fear of communal riots and their lives being destroyed.

Here are stories from Bombay and Delhi and Mysore and Lahore, from riot-struck Punjab and Bengal to remote villages in Bihar and Tamil Nadu. These stories, each utterly different, make history come vividly alive, reminding us that behind the facts and the big dates lie the beating hearts of countless Indians who created history together.

Deeply inspiring and totally gripping, Independence Day will make 15 August 1947 – and a slice of India’s history – come wholly alive.