After a period of seeming impotence during the earlier part of the Bangladesh crisis, which was perhaps the most critical period of its history, the Indian armed forces executed, within the brief period of twelve days, the most decisive liberation campaign in military history, giving a nation of 75 million people its independence in one lightning strike. Operating in one of the most difficult terrains in the world, in which the few existing national highways and railway systems had been disrupted by their insurgent allies, Indian forces, moving with incredible swiftness, brought a formidable enemy to his knees and took 93,000 of them prisoner. (Please note photographs though listed are not carried in this edition.)