"[2] Lloyd’s book was written as a rebuke of both the Indian nationalist account of the event, as well as more contemporary works like Nigel Collett's.
They encountered violent crowds and had to deal with them as best as they could" and stating that the nationalist accounts "confuses victims with aggressors and acts as an apologist for that violence.
In an acerbic review for the University of London, Wagner described the book as "a complete whitewash" and "deeply problematic, never mind poor scholarship" The book was criticised for excluding relying on British police and official reports to the exclusion of Indian accounts, as well as failing to engage with more contemporary scholarship on post-war Punjab and colonial administration.
He also highlighted the numerous personal attacks in Wagner's review and accused him of acting with " selectivity, narrow-mindedness, intolerance and hysteria."
Collett's review was more extensive, quoting heavily from The Amritsar Massacre and was noticeably more measured in tone, but accused Lloyd of blatantly politicizing the matter.