The dramatic true story of the betrayal of hundreds of Indian princely states by both the departing British and the new Congress government. In July 1947, Indiaâ¤s last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, stood before New Delhiâ¤s Chamber of Princes to deliver the most important speech of his career. He had just three weeks to convince over 550 sovereign princely statesâ¤"some tiny, some the size of Britainâ¤"to become part of a free India. Once Britainâ¤s most faithful allies, the princes could choose between joining India or Pakistan, or declaring independence. This is a saga of intrigue, brinkmanship and broken promises, wrought by Mountbatten and two of independent Indiaâ¤s founding fathers: the countryâ¤s most senior civil servant, V.P. Menon, and Congress strongman Vallabhbhai Patel. What Indiaâ¤s architects described as a â¤?bloodless revolution⤠was anything but, as violence engulfed Kashmir and Indian troops crushed Hyderabadâ¤s dreams of independence. Most princes accepted the inevitable, exchanging their power for guarantees of privileges and titles in perpetuity. But these dynasties were still led to extinctionâ¤"not by the sword, but by political expediencyâ¤"leaving them with little more than fading memories of a glorified past.