Full Spectrum, A Book Review
A book review of FULL SPECTRUM by Arjun Subraminam.
Rating: 7.9/10
Full Spectrum by Arjun Subramaniam is the chronological and spiritual successor to his book India’s Wars, A Military History 1947-1971. The book covers the sub-conventional military conflicts spanning the full spectrum that India has been embroiled in since her independence in 1947, but mainly focuses on the period after 1971, when India had started facing increased levels of sub-conventional warfare and asymmetric warfare both from the insurgencies prevalent in many areas of India and the non-state actors and foreign state backed terrorists.
The book opens with a brief introduction of India’s military renaissance, and picks up the pace in the short but masterful narrative of the Naga and Mizo insurgencies, the chapter dealing with this being one of the best in the books. It then semi-chronologically covers the Operation Blue Star (storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar to neutralise terrorists), Operation Meghdoot (capture of Siachen Glacier), Nathu La, Cho La and Sumdorong Chu incidents, winding into Indian Peacekeeping Force operations in Sri Lanka, to the restive years in Jammu and Kashmir and the counter-terrorist operations there leading to the Kargil conflict. The recent incidents of Uri, Balakot, Doklam standoff with China and the standoffs in 2020 in the Galwan valley, Pangong Tso Lake among others also find a place within the book.
The credentials of the author as a neutral observer really shine through in the chapters dealing with Indian Peacekeeping operations in Sri Lanka and Operations Meghdoot. He has, in my humble opinion, managed to portray both the successes and the failures of the Indian armed forces, which is no mean feat as he was once a part of the same establishment, and to overcome one’s biases and prejudices is always a difficult task to perform. The provenance of the author from the flying arm of the Indian defence forces is apparent in the book, as the parts of the book dealing with the Indian Air Force are instantly recognisable as being from the pen of an expert practitioner. The eye for detail is obvious as even Indian Peacekeeping contingents as a part of UN Forces, Exercise Brasstacks and Operation Parakram find a place in the book, which is a rare occurrence even in studies dealing with Indian strategic affairs in the military sphere. Truly, the full spectrum of conflicts has been covered in this book.
This is not an in-depth account or study of the conflicts, which is in itself an impossible proposition in a book of this size given the security scenario in the Indian sub-continent, but is a reasonably comprehensive one which can be used as a springboard for someone who would like to dive deep into the topic, and is even encouraged by the last Chapter of the book Essential Reading. The book is superbly edited, each word feeling perfectly placed, however the quality of maps in the book are very poor, frequently being difficult to read and conveying extremely limited information. Hopefully, this will be rectified in the future editions of this gem of a book.
