Talbot revels in relating disturbances, violent incidents, Hindu-Muslim riots, and the follies of short-sighted politicians. His profiling of leaders is fascinating. He describes Jawaharlal Nehru as "a thorough-going socialist, though he unhesitatingly follows Gandhi in some most unsocialistic channels". He found Vallabhbhai Patel, by contrast, to be an "authoritarian, anti-Communist ‘iron man’." About M.A. Jinnah, wrote Talbot on July 22, 1947, "by sheer cerebral power he pushed himself and his community from strength to strength".