An Odyssey in War and Peace

by J.F.R. Jacob

Jews who have made India their home have flourished without adverse discrimination. Of this, the Baghdadi Sephardic community is very small in number but has produced one of India???s greatest contemporary soldiers, Lt Gen. Jack Jacob. This is his fascinating story. As a small boy, Jacob, who was from a business family, was sent to a residential public school in Darjeeling along with his two brothers. When the Second World War broke out, Jacob without informing his family joined the army in 1941 to fight against the Nazis! After Independence, Gen. Jacob became a gunnery instructor for some time and subsequently was trained in an advanced Artillery and Missile course at Fort Sill in the US. A quick learner, he commanded infantry and artillery brigades, headed the artillery school, and finally the Eastern Army. Rubbing shoulders with some of the stalwarts who strode the Indian political and military arena in those times, Gen. Jacob sometimes fell foul of his bosses and twice came close to resigning. But he stuck on and the pinnacle of his career came in 1971, when he planned and oversaw operations leading to the fall of Dacca and obtained an unconditional public surrender, the only one in history, of Gen. Niazi and his army of 93,000. Written lucidly, this autobiography comes to life as a historical document recapitulating some of the most important events of the 1960s to the 90s ??? from the defeat of the Naxalites in West Bengal, to the problems of Nagaland and Sikkim and the politics of Goa and Punjab. This is not only the story of the life of one great soldier, but provides glimpses of some of the most influential and colourful personalities who wrote the history of those tumultuous times.

Genres: Biography, War, Jewish, History

189 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 2011

Reviews

[Mansoor Azam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gen Jacob's role in War of 1971 is pivotal as regards to operations in the eastern command. moreover his being Jew and rising so high in the hirachery of Indian army, which otherwise has been a martial caste oriented army, is commendable.
But to say the least I'm disappointed to my core reading this one. It's more of a cribbing volume than an effort worth counting as a military history memoir sort of thing .
The general from the start seems to have a singular mindset as to convince the reader that triumph of Indian arms in 1971 conflict solely was because of him. he is specifically hitting out with all guns blazing at FM Manekshaw and Gen Aurora. There is seldom any respite for other corps and army commanders, who are mostly presented as incompetent boys too happy to flash the ribbons around but having no salt. seriously, at one point one starts wondering at the sanity of the author (with due pardon and respects) just because the theme seems to be three liner;
I know it all
Thanks God I was there
Imagine, what could have happen if I wasnt there. ...
Otherwise hither n tether there are interesting facts n chronology of events.
but not I worth wasting the money

[Shirisha Valluri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir by a man who certainly does not like to mince his words.Lt. Gen. Jacob talks about his childhood, his Jewish traditional values and his stint in the Army and as the Governor. When I started reading the book I did wonder as to why Gen. Jacob did not hire a writer to do his memoir.As I progressed with the book, I understood that at times when one's efforts go thankless , one does not want to take chances.But that again is open to speculation. The book talks about the author's accounts of WWII, the Kashmir conflict /Indian Independence, 1962 War, Indo Pak War and the 1971 war. The author Lt. Gen. Jacob talks about the politics of the Indian Army that continues, incompetent bosses and how at times Govt even turns a blind eye to infiltration. Throughout the book, the author does bash FM Mankeshaw calling him anti national,incompetent and ignorant.There is first hand account on how the surrender happened in Dacca in 1971.The way Lt. Gen. Jacob plays Gen. Niazi and gives him such little time for a surrender(the only public one in history) is very interesting. The author claims that the 1971 surrender is completely his plan and that FM Manekshaw had no idea as to what the strategy should be. However,one cant ignore the fact that author sounds pompous. The author talks about some shocking conversations with FM Manekshaw where the latter says that he appointed Gen Aurora(inspite of knowing he is incompetent) as he liked him to be a doormat(yes these are the laugh out loud moments for the reader-irony ofcourse)
There are some instances the author talks about where the resources of Army are misused for trivial purposes like being asked to supply horses for Mughal e Azam and when they are asked to handle civilian crisis related to water supply.
Overall, a highly recommended book in-spite of a few "biased" accounts.
Lt. Gen. J.F.R. Jacob was responsible for the liberation of a nation, definitely deserves some credit

[Hrishikesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book after the recent demise of Lt. Gen. Jacob - and it has been an excellent study in the life of one of those giants to whom we, the present, owe our contemporary world. The book suffers from the one fallacy that all autobiographies suffer from - the early life of the chief protagonist is a dry read. But besides this, the book is near-flawless. A detailed record into the military maneuvers carried out during the '71 Bangladesh Liberation War, I highly it for all students of history. The book also skims the surface of some of the faults that individual officers suffer from, and provides a great example of how an upright and fearless officer conducts himself. Great read, this.

[Joey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Odyssey in War and Peace is a fascinating account of the rise of one of India's most influential army officers. The book is full of interesting anecdotes and astute insights on India's senior leadership during this period. Especially notable is Jacob's relationship with the Manekshaw, Kumaramangalam, and (probably most interesting) Menon.

Unfortunately An Odyssey in War and Peace falls victim to two major faults: The first is Gen. Jacob's biases. The Indian Army was (and perhaps still is) a highly political environment and Jacob has a tendency to display his allies as heroes and his enemies as villains. Furthermore Jacob paints himself as an apolitical actor who is frequently dragged into conflicts with others and, for the good of the service and his own sacred honor, is forced to do the right thing despite personal detriment. I have no doubt that Jacob was a good man, but I question how accurate some of his memories really are. Fortunately for Jacob, neither Sam Manekshaw nor Jagjit Singh Aurora ever wrote memoirs, and Menon's is widely considered a political crank.

The second major fault is JFR's writing style. Jacob is not a natural writer, he has a tendency to get far too technical without giving the reader the requisite background to understand the context. This is far more of an issue with his other book, Surrender at Dacca, for which Jacob stripped large sections of to write this book (More on Surrender at Dacca in a later review but suffice to say I only recommend it for those seeking a deep (and authoritative) technical understanding of the Indian Army during the 1971 war). Still JFR could have done well to have employed a co-author to help smooth out sections and make the book more accessible to those outside of the Red Fort.

[Rohit Walavalkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a good insight into the geopolitical scene of Independent India.
I was shocked after reading how the Indian Army has been politicized in the past. The coterie of Krishna Menon (and in turn Nehru) did the maximum damage to the Indian Army and unfortunately, they are not judged harshly for it.
The flamboyant image of Sam 'Bahadur' was also destroyed after reading this.

However, sometimes I found it difficult to understand the army jargons. Overall this was a good read.

[Divya Pal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a slender volume, it nonetheless encompasses the brilliant General’s career from WWII to the Kargil conflict including his stint with the BJP and governing two states – Goa and Punjab.
Gen Jacob did not suffer fools gladly and spoke his mind to incompetent and lazy seniors (he threatened to resign on a number of occasions). His calling a spade a spade, being a stickler for rules and not bending to the will of bureaucrats probably led to his not being considered for the Chief - much to the loss of the Indian Army.
He is quite dismissive of the much acclaimed Sam Manekshaw (and rightly so, the Field Marshal was a vain-glorious political person) and sidelines Gen Arora completely for their roles in the liberation of Bangladesh. Gen Jacob's contribution for this Indian military triumph is not publicly acknowledged.
Very simply written, not pretentious at all and immensely readable. It could have done with some better editing – there are a lot or repetitions. I plan to read his earlier book exclusively about the Bangladesh war “Birth of a Nation.”

[Satadru Sengupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kindle version could do with better editing

From the perspective of military history, this book provides a tiny crucial narrative concerning the surrender of Pakistani forces in 1971. It does not discuss the tools and the ways war materiel was handled any more those which are related to the author's disagreement with Sam Maneckshaw. The editing of the Kindle version of this book could have been better. Some of the sections are abrupt, while at least one appears to have a duplicate separated only by few pages.

Overall, notwithstanding these minor blemishes, this is a book that must be read by those with even the mildest of interests in history - military or otherwise.

[B. Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the book gives the idea about his life and liberation of Bangladesh in particular, the book is not for a pleasant reading. May be his lack of skills to give a dramatic coverage of incident (like a novelist) and the missing of cohesion among chapters is attributing to the problem (at least that is what I felt). Nevertheless, the book is a must for those who are interested in India’s Military History.

[Shanker Arora · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. An autobiography that has verygood ideas about an officer's conduct and excellent information about military planning and execution. Immense knowledge about operational plans and their execution. Recommended for students of. Military Science at all levels.

Very interesting story of a chief of staff and a DMO, both Major Generals who ran the entire Bangladesh war without the Army Commander or The Army Chief's full involvement!

[Milan Kamilya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. J.F.R Jacob was the mastermind behind the 1971 independence war of Bangladesh. He beautifully crafted all the technical details of military and Mukti Bahini insurgences in the war. It teaches how to focus on achieving the Primary goal with fewer resources than the enemy.

Its a masterpiece for military warfare, you should read it if you on the same path.

[Pushkar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A History You Need to Know

It’s a historical artifact. It reveals a different aspect of Menon, Indira Gandhi and BJP leaders. It shows how India needs to keep strengthening its military and related infrastructure. Hopefully the world of future is of peaceful trade and coexistence but we do need to “carry a big stick”. I salute this hero of the war of 1971.

[Rajiv Bantwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank and fearless writing. Gave me an insight into the man and his character. I learnt much about the Bangladesh War Of Liberation from the pen of the man who made it happen.

[Himanshu Baukhandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Indian Jewish soldier who fought under a Parsi Chief of Army to divide Pakistan into two parts, extraordinary autobiography.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invaluable record but a little sketchy at times (for things that would be interestingly are dealt with summarily) and slightly controversial too (and the author takes pains to stress twice that he had informed the two principal protagonists who did not object) but where the book loses - and this is a fault of the editor who seems absent, disinterested, or incapable - in the structure.. too many dangling, unclear sentences, misspellings, and repetitions (and I still give it an extra star for the author's recollections)

[chakravarthy g k]

Some times how ignorant we are about history and its true heroes is clearly evident in this book. J.F.R Jacob truly under appreciated public hero , and that most of the Indian are not even aware. We many may know is at most So called 'Sam Bahadur' and his boastful heroism.

[V Moorthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good first hand account with Gen.Jacob with some rough patches which are boring.