Penderel Moon Explained

Sir Edward Penderel Moon, OBE (1905–1987) was a British administrator in India and a writer. He served as a finance minister for the Bahawalpur State in the British Raj. After India's independence, he stayed on in India and worked as the chief commissioner of Himachal Pradesh, as chief commissioner of Manipur state.^[1]

Life and career

Moon was born 13 November 1905 in Mayfair, London to a cardiologist, Robert Oswald Moon who wrote about philosophy and Greek medicine as well as diseases of the heart. Dr Moon also stood several times as a Liberal candidate for parliament.^[1] He followed in his father's footsteps, first to Winchester College, then to New College, Oxford. In 1927, he was elected a prize fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1929, being posted to the Punjab.

He wrote several books on British rule in India including Divide and Quit.^{[2] [3]}

Works

• Strangers in India (1944)^[4]
• The Future of India (1945)
• Warren Hastings and British India (1947)
• Divide and Quit (1961)^[5]
• Gandhi and Modern India (1968)^[6]
• Wavell: The Viceroy's Journal (editor, 1973)
• The British Conquest and Dominion of India: 1858-1947 (1989)^[7]

Notes and References

1. Mason, Philip. "Moon, Sir (Edward) Penderel (1905–1987), administrator in India and writer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sep. 2004. .
2. Web site: November 22, 2013 . Sir Edward Penderel Moon (1932) . The Friday Times.
3. Web site: November 27, 2016 . 'Moon' reappears . https://web.archive.org/web/20161129145422/https://www.thestatesman.com/features/moon-reappears-1480287500.html . 29 November 2016 . The Statesman.
4. Mills . Lennox A. . 18 December 1945 . Strangers in India. By Penderel Moon. (New York: Reynal and Hitchcock. 1945. Pp. vii, 184. $2.00.) . American Political Science Review . 39 . 6 . 1229–1230 . 10.2307/1949690. 1949690 .
5. 18 April 1962 . Book Reviews : Divide and Quit. Penderel Moon (and others) . International Relations . 2 . 5 . 345–347 . 10.1177/004711786200200527.
6. Brown . Judith M. . 18 September 1970 . Gandhi and Modern India. By Penderel Moon (Review) . The Historical Journal . 13 . 3 . 566–568 . 10.1017/S0018246X00009390.
7. Zinkin . Maurice . 18 November 1989 . Book Reviews : The British Conquest and Dominion of India by Sir Penderel Moon. London: Duckworth, 1989 1235 pp. £60 . International Relations . 9 . 6 . 555–557 . 10.1177/004711788900900607.