On 13 April 1919, thousands of civilians gathered peacefully in Jallianwala Bagh. Both the lieutenant governor of Punjab, Sir Michael O’Dwyer, and his top military man in the city, Brigadier General Dyer decided to use the meeting to teach the natives a lesson. Blocking the main exit with armoured cars, Brig.Dyer marched in with his men and commanded them to open fire without giving any order to disperse. According to legend, Udham Singh was among the injured that day and, picking up a handful of blood-soaked earth, he vowed to take revenge on those responsible. More than twenty years later, in a Westminster hall, he gunned down O’Dwyer in cold blood to fulfil that promise. His actions made him a martyr in India and, to this day, his name is revered. But what happened in the intervening years? In this sweeping narrative that takes the reader across four continents, Anita Anand separates reality from myth to reveal Singh’s astonishing story. She brilliantly pieces together his movements and the people who inspired and helped him, discovering surprising new links that take us from Jazz Age New York to the shady world of international spy rings, from poverty-stricken London bedsits to movie sets. The Patient Assassin shines a devastating light on one of the Raj’s most horrific events, but reads like a taut thriller as Singh’s moment of destiny draws ever nearer.