On 25 July 1947, India?s last viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, stood before the Chamber of Princes to deliver his career?s most important speech.He had just three weeks to convince over 550 princely states ? some the size of Britain, some so small that cartographers had trouble locating them ? to become part of a free India. The alternative was unthinkable ? the fragmentation of the subcontinent into dozens of autocratic fiefdoms. This is the beginning of John Zubrzycki?s marvellous retelling of the story of how the princely states were coaxed, coerced or bludgeoned into joining India.