Book excerpt: Wavell's era provides the backdrop for the finale which so historically, and tragically, unfolded under his successor and the last British viceroy, Mountbatten. No understanding of Mountbatten's era and the last days of the Raj in India could be complete without a deeper and proper understanding in all its complexities, of the Wavell's time as the second-last viceroy of India (October 1943-March 1947).