His Majesty’s Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India’s Struggle against Empire

by Sugata Bose

The man whom Indian nationalists perceived as the George Washington of India and who was President of the Indian National Congress in 1938 1939 is a legendary figure. Called Netaji ( leader ) by his countrymen, Subhas Chandra Bose struggled all his life to liberate his people from British rule and, in pursuit of that goal, raised and led the Indian National Army against Allied Forces during World War II. His patriotism, as Gandhi asserted, was second to none, but his actions aroused controversy in India and condemnation in the West.

Now, in a definitive biography of the revered Indian nationalist, Sugata Bose deftly explores a charismatic personality whose public and private life encapsulated the contradictions of world history in the first half of the twentieth century. He brilliantly evokes Netaji s formation in the intellectual milieu of Calcutta and Cambridge, probes his thoughts and relations during years of exile, and analyzes his ascent to the peak of nationalist politics. Amidst riveting accounts of imprisonment and travels, we glimpse the profundity of his struggle: to unite Hindu and Muslim, men and women, and diverse linguistic groups within a single independent Indian nation. Finally, an authoritative account of his untimely death in a plane crash will put to rest rumors about the fate of this deathless hero.

This epic of a life larger than its legend is both intimate, based on family archives, and global in significance. "His Majesty s Opponent" establishes Bose among the giants of Indian and world history.

Genres: History, India, Biography, Nonfiction, Politics, Indian Literature, Leadership

448 pages, Hardcover

First published April 29, 2011

About the author

Sugata Bose is the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University.
He was born in Calcutta, India. He studied at the Presidency College, Kolkata. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge under Eric Stokes. He is the grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and grandson of Nationalist leader Sarat Chandra Bose.
He is the author of several books on the economic, social and political history of modern South Asia, and has pioneered work in historical studies emphasizing the centrality of the Indian Ocean. He is heading the mentors' group for revival of Presidency College.
He is married to Ayesha Jalal, a prominent Pakistani historian.

Reviews

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 3 out of 5]

One attempt too many at defending political decisions and one slur too many at the other leaders (Nehru, Gandhi, Patel among others), all the while trying to portray Bose as a visionary who alone had the true picture of world politics and the future, makes this a bit of a propaganda book. At many times it resorts to ‘if’s to wonder about what Bose might have done or speculates on how he could have influenced various momentous events. At other times it is a string of ‘but’s to explain all the questionable affiliations and decisions that plague Bose’s legacy. In the end Bose’s own statement is what truly reflects his impact on the politics of the day: ‘Subhas felt like “a political Rip Van Winkle.”

With Bose being a distant absentee during almost all the major turns in the play, the author had to resort to some questionably speculative tricks to make him the star actor. The ‘biography’ is all the worse for the fact that it spends most of its pages trying to follow Bose in his meandering journeys rather than trying to understand his political/ideological progress that culminated so historically.

There is no doubt that Bose was a man of high integrity and as true a son of Mother India in those turbulent times as any of the other celebrated leaders. He deserves to be on as high a pedestal as any of them does. They were strong men and hence had strong ideals and also individual tendencies. All of them could not be right and none of them could be right all the time, there is no need for an apology to be composed for any of them, same being the case with Bose. Four of Five stars to the Protagonist; Two of Five for the Biography.

[Siddharth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful and detailed account of one of the greater lights of India's freedom struggle. Also surprisingly balanced, considering the author is Bose's grandnephew (his father, Sisir Bose, played a significant role in helping Subhas escape from the country).

The author's analysis of Bose's role in the struggle for independence is satisfactory. However, his speculations regarding the impact Bose would have had had he been party to some pivotal decisions taken by Gandhi, Nehru and the Congress Working Committee (and particularly, his impact on the decisions themselves) is at times rather optimistic and naive.

What the author succeeds in, though, is in presenting a striking portrait of Subhas Chandra Bose - his passion for philosophy (a pleasant surprise to me - Bose's reputation as a "hardman" of sorts seems to preclude any rumination on the mysteries of life) , unshakeable devotion to his motherland, resilience in the wake of debilitating illness, and tender love for his wife Emile are presented in vivid yet steady detail. The relative absence of rancour while referring to Gandhi and Nehru - again, taking into account the author's proximity to Bose, and the fact that most accounts of Bose also serve as vicious broadsides against the aforementioned leaders - is particularly refreshing.

The author puts to rest the fanciful matter of Bose being alive for years after his plane crashed without any trouble. He also firmly establishes Bose's secular (the Indian variant which preaches religious tolerance rather than a distancing of religion from the public self) credentials - Hindutvawadis who loudly extol Bose's virtues would not hesitate to label him a "sickular minority-appeaser" were he a present-day politician.

Overall, an excellent primer to the life of India's great Lost Leader.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subhas Chandra Bose was a great intellectual and believer of freedom for India from British occupation. Netaji relentlessly fought to free India (he called it bondage) from British rule. While in exile he travelled to Russia, Germany, Austria, Italy Singapore and Japan to get support and financial aid to fight British rule. To silence Subhas Bose British government arrested him several times and imprisoned him without a fair trial. Sarat Bose (elder brother of Subhas Bose) and Dr. Sisir Bose (nephew of Subhas Bose) were both jailed for helping Netaji to escape from India. Subhas Chandra Bose had gained support from family, friends and the Indian public. He believed in equality, education for children, jobs for under privileged people and harijan’s (low caste) and justice for women regardless of caste, creed or colour.

He had placed his personal life on hold until he gained Freedom for India, however when he hired an Austrian-born Emilie Schenkl as his secretary in Austria things changed and he fell in love with her. In 1937 in Bad Gastein he privately married Emilie and Anita his daughter was born in Vienna 1942. Subhas Chandra Bose passed away in Taipei, Taiwan (alleged) in a plane crash on August 18th 1945 aged 58 and his ashes are still interred at the Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan.

To quote part of broadcast Subhas Chandra Bose gave from Singapore to Indians at home:

Sisters and Brothers,

A glorious chapter in the history of India’s Struggle for Freedom has just come to a close and, in that chapter, the sons and daughters of India in East Asia will have an undying place. You set a shining example of patriotism and self- sacrifice by pouring out men, money and materials into the struggle for India’s independence. I shall never forget the spontaneity and enthusiasm with which you responded to my call for “Total Mobilization.” You sent an unending stream of your sons and daughters to the camps to be trained as soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj and of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. Money and materials you poured lavishly into the war chest of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind. In short, you did your duty as true sons and daughters of India. I regret more than you do that your sufferings and sacrifices have not borne immediate fruit. But they have not gone in vain, because they have ensured the emancipation of our motherland and will serve as an undying inspiration to Indians all over the world. Posterity will bless your name, and will talk with pride about your offerings at the altar of India’s Freedom and about your positive achievement as well.

Mahatma Gandhi summed up Netaji’s achievements:

“He had sacrificed a brilliant career for the sake of the country’s service. He suffered various imprisonments, twice became President of the Congress, and at last by great strategy gave the slip to the guard put over him by the Government of Bengal and by sheer courage and resourcefulness reached Kabul, passed through European countries, and finally found himself in Japan, collected from scattered material an army of brilliant young men drawn from all communities and from all parts of India and dared to give battle to a mighty Government. A lesser man would have succumbed under the trials that he went through; but he in his life verified the saying of Tulsidas that “all becomes right for the brave.”

I was disappointed to read that his ashes were never brought back to India to create a monument in honor of his hard and honest work to Free India. His slogan “Chalo Delhi” he never made it to Delhi. He is “The Forgotten Hero.”

Indian paid a very heavy price with blood for Freedom, however in the end it was worth the fight. I did not know much about Subhas Chandra Bose and after reading his Biography I feel he was one of the most unique individual in the history of India. I would recommend this book to everyone with personal assurance that it is worth the time and effort to read about this great man.

[Manish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt ashamed of myself while reading this book, for not having known enough of Netaji all these years. A Masters in Philosophy from Cambridge, quitting the Civil Services at the age of 24, languishing in a prison in Mandalay during his late 20s, edifying Gandhiji only to see him play politics to pull him down, falling in love in Europe, looking after Kamala Nehru during her convalescence, forming the Forward Bloc, daring escape from House arrest in Kolkata to Europe through Kabul, meeting the Fuehrer & Mussolini, birth of a daughter, travel to South East Asia in a submarine, formation of the Azad Hind Fauj, defeat in the North East, retreat to Singapore, the decision to move to Russia and finally the fiery end in a Japanese hospital in Taipei. All for the love of seeing a 'Free' India. I knew nothing of most of this. Ashamed!

[Apratim Mukherjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always wanted to read a full biography of one of India's greatest freedom fighters-Subhash Chandra Bose.This biography is written by a member of Bose family.So it is expected to be biased(which it rightly is).This book attempts to give Bose his rightful place in Indian history.It tells about smallest details of his life ( which makes reading boring initially) .The author also clears some air on Netaji's disappearance.All in all its an excellent biography.I only docked a star for some irrelevant material which the author probably wrote in zest.Essential read for all those who want to know about Netaji in detail.

[Srijan Chattopadhyay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the subject (especially death) of Netaji has been dissected clinically and brutally by investigative historians and over-patriotic zealots, this sleek and sumptuous take on this mountain of a man cooks a broth that satiates the reader.

As the author had the juicy luck to feel the suspense of Netaji's great escape from his old man( Sisir Bose was the main aid-de-confidante) I became the blackness that tiptoed with Netaji along the Veranda and I was the sweat on his kurta collar who could smell his alert hair on the neck as he boarded the car on that fateful night. Yes, it was that real!

The thing I was dreading the most at the end of the book was the same repetitive, strenuous ifs and buts about his plane crash but the author remained true to the pace and like many others didn't choose to jump into the politically charged and controversy theory marred quagmire that runs wild on the digital street of our country.

According to Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji was a "prince among the patriots" and Netaji himself declared in 1940 that suffering and sacrifice for your country will enrich you in a certain way.

Now, we know, our beloved Subhas Chandra Bose, through his head-dizzying bravery and heaven and earth-shattering mental doggedness has truly become the prince, heir to a life immortal.

Happy reading.

[Nikhil Nayak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book not only describes the events and happenings in Netaji's life but also explains the attitude, motive and thinking of Netaji behind those instances. This well written book explains who Netaji was, what influenced his thinking, what made him a man of such stature, what was his attitude, plan and solutions for the social, religious and economic problems, which India was facing that time.
Sugata Bose made a sincere effort to provide an unbiased explanation and details of Netaji’s political and personal relations with his fellow comrades and family, his intention behind joining hands with Axis powers, his role as a hindu-muslim mediator, as a Congress president, Supreme-commander of INA and the head of provincial govt of free India. He accurately co-related the national and international historical events with Netaji’s life.
All these made this book an authenticated and acclaimed biography of India’s most vibrant, charismatic and beloved leader, whose life’s sole and utter motto was India’s freedom.
This book does not entertain much about the rumours of disappearance of Netaji. Being patriotic, I personally enjoyed reading this book and recommend this book for those with similar instinct.
Jai Hind.

[Sam Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is The definitive biography of Subhas Chandra Bose, who was one of the leading figures of the Indian independence struggle back in the early 20th century. Unfortunately, Bose isn't nearly as widely known as Gandhi or even Nehru are, who were Bose's contemporaries and fellow leaders in the Indian National Congress, and yknow that is just a cryin' shame! Bose is a fascinating figure, a great man who had a very introspective and intelligent and philosophical worldview, as well as being the leading representative of the radical and socialist part of the INC. He is controversial in western countries these days because of his involvement with the Axis during WW2, which he defected to because they were fighting the British who occupied and exploited India, but I really think accusations of him being a fascist or of accepting fascism are dishonest and dismissive. For instance, he personally stopped any British Indian POWs from being sent to fight against the Soviet Union and he was for his entire life an opponent of Nazi racism. This book generally does a great job of presenting his complicated and fascinating life in all of its details from his youth to his death, although I think it downplays some aspects of his political career and thought that were influenced by Marxism, mostly because the members of his family are, while still on the leftist side of things, much more moderate than the man himself was. Would recommend to anyone interested in Indian history or politics, or to anyone who considers themselves a socialist!

[Aritra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very remarkable account of a figure who has prominently figured in my imagination since childhood. It gives a different account to the commonly taught history in Indian textbooks. I bow down to the courage of this soul that gave all for a singular purpose - that being the liberation in body and society of an oppressed population (my own ancestors). It is almost a blessing that he was spared the tragedy of seeing what has become modern India. Would he be happy at the massive inequalities facing the subcontinent? Would he be smiling to see the violence against women? What would he say to the politics of today?

I wonder if we met him now, what he would say...

In the spirit of freedom 🙏

[aahana · Rating 2 out of 5]

actually didn’t finish because it was sooooo boring and the author’s way of explaining the history was just bad. he would use quotes (embedded way too many) to describe stories and ideas so it became annoying to read. don’t know if this matters as much but even as an indian, there is bias shown.
i did like it the book a little bit at the beginning, so i decided to be a little nice. -_-

[Abhinav Yadav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for vicariously going through one of the most adventurous life during WWII. Netaji's death mystery and his strong persona to impress people home and abroad can be understood through this book. I'll put up the snippets from the book soon.

03 Sep 2022 08:49

1. The court-martial of some leading officers at Delhi's Red Fort had just transmitted the story of the Indian National Army and its Netaji ("revered leader," as Bose had come to be called) to every Indian home.
2. The man whom Bose had been the first to hail as the "Father of Our Nation" now regarded his rebellious "son" as a prince among patriots. "Netaji's name," Gandhi said, "is one to conjure with. His patriotism is second to none."
3. The young American was puzzled by the Indian reluctance to line up unambiguously on the side of the Allies against the Axis powers.
4. We are asked to fight for democracy in Germany, Italy, and Japan. How can we when we haven't got it ourselves?" If these were points Gandhi gently raised in a low voice during conversation, he struck a harsher tone in written replies to Fischer's questions.
5. Wartime imperatives ensured that British policies were hardly benign. To severe political repression was added intensified economic exploitation of India's resources.
6. In his response, Gandhi described Bose as "a patriot of patriots," albeit "misguided."
7. On July 4, 1943, India's would-be George Washington rose to accept the leadership of the Indian freedom movement in Southeast Asia.
8. "When we reach Delhi's Red Fort and hold our victory parade there . . . , " Subhas Chandra Bose began before thunderous cheers interrupted him. Once the applause died down, he continued his sentence: ". . . no one can say who among us will be there, who among us will live to see India free." "Whether we live or die," the leader asserted, "that is of no consequence. The only thing that matters, the only truth, is that India shall be free."
9. He introduced the inspiring national greeting "Jai Hind" ("Victory to India").
10. war"-not to aid the Axis powers against the Allies, but to wage the struggle against the British raj.
11. On September 26, 1943, a ceremonial parade and prayers were held in Rangoon, at the tomb of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, to signal the INA's determination to march to the Red Fort of Delhi.
12. "So long as ghazis [heroic warriors] are imbued with the spirit of faith/The sword of Hindustan will reach London's throne."
13. The promised march to Delhi was, however, halted in Imphal. The British and Britain's Indian Army, with American air support, were able to break the siege of Imphal after three and a half tense months,
14. "The roads to Delhi are many," he told his soldiers, "and Delhi still remains our goal." Urging his civilian followers never to falter in their faith in India's destiny, Bose expressed confidence that "India shall be free and before long."
15. When the Second World War ended, the Indian independence movement seemed in disarray. The Quit India movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942 had been crushed. Bose's armed thrust from outside India's borders had been repulsed. At such a moment of despondency in the nationalist ranks, thousands of Netaji's soldiers arrived at the Red Fort of Delhi as prisoners.
16. The British charged a Hindu, a Muslim, and a Sikh-Prem Kumar Sahgal, Shah Nawaz Khan, and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon-with high treason for waging war against the king-emperor.
17. Bose had been reported killed in the crash of a Japanese bomber in Taipei on August 18, 1945. "You will understand our pressing anxiety," a British intelligence officer wrote on February 19, 1946, "to get to the truth of whether Bose is actually and permanently dead."
18. Indians never had any difficulty in combining reverence for saints with admiration for warrior-heroes.
19. Putting on trial a few INA men to set an example to Britain's Indian subjects proved to be a catastrophic error on the part of the colonial masters.
20. A highly skilled and experienced lawyer with liberal political views, Bhulabhai Desai, led the legal defense team established by the Congress. Nehru donned his barrister's robes for the first time in a quarter-century, in solidarity with the army led by his erstwhile comrade and rival (though he had been skeptical of Bose's wartime exploits).
21. The Cambridge-educated Subhas Chandra Bose had plunged into Gandhi's Indian freedom movement after resigning from the Indian Civil Service in 1921.
22. An armed thrust from outside India coinciding with an uprising within, Bose believed, could bring about the final dissolution of the British raj.
23. "Though the INA failed in their immediate objective," Gandhi noted, "they have a lot to their credit of which they might well be proud. The greatest among these was to gather together, under one banner, men from all religions and races of India, and infuse into them the spirit of solidarity and oneness to the utter exclusion of all communal and parochial sentiment."
24. Bose was acutely aware that Indian society was extensively fissured along lines not just of religious community, but also of caste, class, and gender.
25. He denounced the racism of Nazi Germany and the militarism of 1930s Japan, but allied with them in the 1940s in his single-minded pursuit of Indian freedom from British colonial rule.
26. On August 15, 1997, the fiftieth anniversary of India's independence, three voices were played at a special midnight session of India's Parliament-those of Gandhi, Nehru, and Bose-and it was Bose who drew the loudest and longest applause.
27. Nelson Mandela, on his first visit to India after his release from prison in 1990, paid tribute to the iconic leaders of India's struggle against empire. "Your heroes of those days," he told his Indian audience, "became our heroes. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was amongst the great persons of the world whom we black students regarded as being as much our leader as yours. Indeed, Netaji united all militant youth of all the colonially oppressed world. We followed with pride his great contributions, as we did that of the Mahatma and Pandit Nehru."
28. Soon after he proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India in October 1943, Bose was presented with a ceremonial Japanese sword bearing the inscription, "Destroy evil, establish justice."
29. Twenty years after independence, that sword was brought to India by General Fujiwara Iwaichi, who as a major during the Second World War had worked closely with the Indian National Army.
30. "So many of us who knew Netaji have assembled here today," Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said at the Red Fort, "with hearts laden with emotion. His slogan was 'Onward to Delhi.' He himself could not reach Delhi. But his sword has come here today and we welcome it warmly. Netaji was an example of India's courage. I can still remember when we were young and we looked into his inspired eyes, our hearts also filled up with fervor. We can therefore well understand how and with what fervor he organized the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army)."
31. Bose wept when he sent his soldiers into battle and did not restrain his tears when he witnessed and shared their suffering. One could speak of Bose in the words that Carl Sandburg used to describe the heartbroken Abraham Lincoln: "on occasions he was seen to weep in a way that made weeping appropriate, decent, majestic."30
32. During his lifetime, Bose himself was apt to forget his own birthday. He was not permitted to do so on January 23, 1945, his forty-eighth, when much to his embarrassment he had to acquiesce in using the occasion to raise funds for the Indian National Army. He had told the organizers that he was "frankly against the celebration of his own birthday" and urged them to "concentrate on and popularize ideas and ideals and not personalities."
33. Subhas, "One of Good Speech"-a name that would prove prophetic when his stirring words inspired India's army of liberation during the Second World War.
34. The Times's own correspondent added from Ottawa that the Bank of Montreal had contributed $5,000 (Canadian) to the Indian Famine Relief Fund.2
35. "Amidst signs of progress and prosperity from all parts of the Empire, India alone presented a scene of poverty and distress. A famine, the most intense and the most widely extended yet known, desolated the country in 1897."
36. The Lancet, estimated famine mortality in India during the 1890s at 19 million, which was about half the population of Britain.
37. eking
38. Delhi Durbar-a courtly gathering of Indian princes and notables-in January 1903,
39. In 1885, the twenty-five-year-old Janakinath had moved from Calcutta to Cuttack in search of a career in the British law courts.
40. "the administration was run by Hindus and Muslims together."
41. As a child, Subhas felt lost among a large brood of siblings and cousins.
42. "I was barely fifteen," Subhas Chandra Bose wrote, "when Vivekananda entered my life." The message of this great Hindu sage, who had preached a life of service to suffering humanity and died at the early age of thirty-nine in 1902, gave him "an ideal" to which he could devote his "whole being."
43. Until December 1911, the year the partition of Bengal was rescinded, Subhas was "politically so undeveloped" (as he recorded in his autobiography) that he took part in an essay competition on King George V's coronation. His father had been government attorney and public prosecutor in Cuttack since 1905, and would be rewarded with the official title of Rai Bahadur in 1912.
44. neglecting his studies. In March
45. He had visited this great metropolis before, but it was in the spring of 1913 that he came to live there.
46. Aurobindo's metaphysics was based on "a reconciliation between Spirit and Matter, between God and Creation," and a synthesis of yoga-the union of the human with the divine-as a means to attaining the truth, and for Subhas it supplied a way out of "the cobwebs of maya."
47. "I should like to see some of you becoming great; great not for your own sake, but to make India great, so that she may stand up with head erect amongst the free nations of the world."30
48. Subhas's discovery of India, unlike that of his great contemporary Jawaharlal Nehru, occurred very early in his life, while he was still in his teens. It happened before rather than after (as in Nehru's case) a direct encounter with Europe, and was intimately connected with a spiritual quest. In the summer vacation of 1914 Subhas quietly left home with a friend, without telling his parents, in search of a guru or a spiritual preceptor. He visited all of the major pilgrimage sites of northern India, including Lachhman-Jhola, Hrishikesh, Hardwar, Mathura, Brindaban, Benares, and Gaya.
49. first-hand the deeply ingrained caste prejudices in northern India and the petty sectarian rivalries of the men of religion.
50. The racism that Indians suffered at the hands of the British in the city of Calcutta was constant and ubiquitous.
51. Lying in bed and reading the newspapers, he began to question whether it was possible "to divide a nation's life into two compartments and hand over one of them to the foreigner, reserving the other to ourselves."
52. Yet the year 1915 passed without any major crisis. Subhas immersed himself in the study of the philosophy of Kant, Hegel, and Bergson.
53. Dilip later reminisced that from their earliest meetings he noticed that Subhas "had a native power to lead, and he knew it."
54. In his autobiography, written in 1937, Subhas described himself as "an eyewitness" to the incident, even though in a letter written to Sarat in 1921 he had stated that he should have taken responsibility for the assault in a more forthright manner instead of simply remaining silent and refusing to implicate others.
55. Professors like Oaten often harbored beliefs about Britain's racial superiority and civilizing mission in India that were anathema to the proud post-1905 generation in Bengal.
56. "Lying on the bunk in the train at night," Subhas would write in his autobiography three decades later, "I reviewed the events of the last few months." The "inner significance" of "the tragic events of 1916" would emerge only later, when he realized that his expulsion from college had given him "a foretaste of leadership though in a very restricted sphere-and of the martyrdom that it involves."
57. Professors who later suffered a similar fate at the hands of their students were said to have been "oatenized." The professor whose name became a verb was for decades portrayed as a villain in popular accounts of the incident in India.
58. After a year's absence, Subhas journeyed to Calcutta to try his luck with the university authorities once more.
59. Bengalis were deemed by the British to be a "nonmartial race," based on a spurious anthropological theory about martial races and castes formulated in the late nineteenth century.
60. For his master's degree, Subhas decided to switch from philosophy to experimental psychology.
61. In 1893, the House of Commons had passed a resolution favoring simultaneous examinations in London and India for entry into the service, but this administrative reform had not been implemented.
62. The father asked whether Subhas would like to go to England to study for the Indian Civil Service and requested a reply within twenty-four hours.
63. On September 15, 1919, Subhas Chandra Bose set sail for England from Bombay on the S.S. City of Calcutta.
64. The ship was delayed by a week at Suez because of a coal strike.
65. But the bulk of his time had to be devoted to diligent preparation for the ICS examination.
66. He studied nine diverse subjects: English composition, Sanskrit, philosophy, English law, political science, modern European history, English history, economics, and geography.
67. His copies of the books he read, such as A. F. Pollard's Factors in Modern History, Arthur D. Innes's A History of England and the British Empire, and John Maynard Keynes's Indian Currency and Finance, were heavily marked and filled with extensive marginal notes.
68. In Subhas's experience, relations between British and Indian students at Cambridge tended to be cordial, but not intimate.
69. rankled.
70. Indian students were not permitted to enlist in the university unit of the Officers' Training Corps. Subhas and a fellow student, K. L. Gauba, were sent as representatives of the Indian Majlis, a students' organization in Cambridge, to present their case before Secretary of State E. S. Montagu, and the Earl of Lytton, Under-Secretary of State for India.
71. The Indian students reassured the authorities that they were interested only in the training and promised not to seek military commissions, but to no avail.
72. supine
73. He recalled Vivekananda's view that India's progress would be achieved "only by the peasant, the washerman, the cobbler, and the sweeper." The West had already shown what "the power of the people" could accomplish-and "the brightest example" of this was Russia, the world's first socialist republic.
74. Respect for the best in English character, however, did not translate into a positive assessment of the British raj.
75. In their father's opinion, Home Rule would come to India in ten years. Such an outcome was possible, according to the skeptical son, only if Indians were prepared to pay the price. "Only on the soil of sacrifice and suffering," Subhas declared, "can we raise our national edifice." He was dismayed that in the entire history of British rule in India, not a single Indian had renounced the civil service motivated by patriotism.
76. After two decades as an expatriate in South Africa, where he earned a reputation as a practitioner of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had returned to India in 1915.
77. On April 22, 1921, from his lodgings at 16 Herbert Street, Cambridge, Subhas Chandra Bose dispatched his letter of resignation from the Indian Civil Service to E. S. Montagu, Secretary of State for India.66
78. clods
79. consecrate
80. One thing was clear after the very first meeting between Gandhi and Bose. The Mahatma had failed to cast his hypnotic spell on Subhas, as he had done with so many of his followers-those who chanted in unison, "Gandhi Maharaj ki Jai!" ("Victory to the Great King Gandhi!").
81. After their arrival in India, Tagore was persuaded that Gandhi's personal antagonism to modern science and medicine was influencing the tenor of the political movement.
82. If there was one quality that distinguished Das, it was his magnanimity. He had given up his princely income as a leading barrister in the Calcutta High Court to devote himself full-time to the noncooperation movement.
83. In Gandhi's definition, swaraj meant "Self-Government within the empire, if possible-and outside, if necessary."
84. The program of nonviolent noncooperation advocated by the Gandhian Congress included the triple boycott of legislatures, law courts, and educational institutions.
85. Even at the provincial level, there was to be a system known as "diarchy" in which the more important departments of government would be reserved for the British governor and his civil servants.
86. But on February 5, 1922, news came from Chauri Chaura, a remote village in the United Provinces of north India, that insurgent peasants had set fire to a police station and twenty-one policemen had died. Citing this act of violence, Gandhi unilaterally called off the noncooperation movement.
87. The sepoy has been used more often as a hired assassin than as a soldier defending the liberty or the honor of the weak and the helpless.
88. More significant than the nationalist victory in Calcutta was the Hindu-Muslim unity that underpinned the triumph. Though Muslims formed slightly more than 50 percent of the population of Bengal, they lagged behind Hindus in access and opportunity in education, the professions, and government services.
89. He retorted that in the past Hindus had enjoyed "a sort of monopoly" when it came to appointments, and he would support the "just claims" of Muslims, Christians, and members of the depressed classes even if that caused "heart burning" among Hindus.
90. If Hindus wish to set India free, they must be willing to sacrifice in favor of their Mussalman and other brethren."
91. Das and Bose did not support acts of individual terrorism and did not believe swaraj could be won by terrorist methods.
92. however, they did not subscribe unquestioningly to Gandhian nonviolence either.
93. "It is the common habit of established Governments and especially those which are themselves oppressors," he wrote, "to brand all violent methods in subject peoples and communities as criminal and wicked." T

[Biju Balakrishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sensational biography of our forgotten hero 'Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose'. Sugata Bose has beautifully narrated his journey from Calcutta, the early years, to Cambridge where he completed his studies. The Indian Civil Services laureate who abandons his civil service job and returns to India with a dream of liberating his people from British oppression.

The great escape to Germany via Afghanistan & Russia under the nose of British surveillance shows his courage and fearless attitude. A truly one man army who was able to influence many world leaders of that time to support his mission 'complete freedom from British rule'. He traveled across Europe, the far east, Russia & Japan in pursuit of his goal and led him to form the Indian National Army (INA),which he lead against the allied forces during WW II.

Sugata Bose has done extensive research to portray the character and charisma of the man. He elaborates Subhash's personal life and also the important phases of the struggle for Indian independence.

It would make you wonder if a single man can do so much for a country. If he was around during the independence, would our India be the same? It is one of the greatest 'ifs' of history to which there can be no definitive answer. - Sugata writes.

A must read for everyone who is interested in world history.

[Lilisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed account of Subhas Chandra Bose's fight to secure India's freedom from British rule, this book reads more like a history book than a biography, which I had expected it to be. As a result we are inundated with excruciating historical details, rather than an in depth understanding of Bose or Netaji (as he was fondly referred to) as a person and what drove him. Albeit there is a bit of that, but we never really get to discover the true person that he was - the book just seems to skim the surface as evidenced by the rather insipid account of his relationship with Emily. I was hoping to gain insight into Netaji the person - what made him tick, what fueled his burning desire to fight for freedom and what he endured during his numerous imprisonment stints. Nevertheless, historians will probably thoroughly enjoy the book for its details and timeline of events leading up to his untimely death in a plane crash.

[Akash Patel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a biography of bose written by Sugata Bose who happens to be his blood descendant. Being a biography, it's thick with details, dates, events etc which makes it tough read at times. But for the same characteristic, it has great value as a reference book on Bose.

Being a relative, Sugata naturally has taken compassionate view of Subhash on several occasions. While correctly lauding Bose's traits such as undying optimistic, great organisational skills, passion for nation etc, she conveniently overlooks shortcomings of his persona. The quarrel between Gandhi and him, which often rose to indecent level, has been portrayed very benignly. Similarly, confrontational attitude, mistrust in his political opponents, absurd self righteousness and authoritative nature of bose is not given much focus.

All in all, this book will help in knowing positives of Bose, but if you want a 360 degree view, must read other books too.

[Midhun Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about the greatest warrior India has ever produced- Subhas Chandra Bose. He is not only a brave military hero, but also a great politician, a good visionary, a brilliant philosopher and moreover he was very humane as a person. He, probably, was more respectable and more efficient than Gandhi as a leader of Indian Freedom Struggle. He lived and died for Mother India. The political, social, economical and cultural history of India would be totally different for better if he had enough support from within the country, especially from the Indian National Congress, as much as he got from outside India, and if a tragic airplane crash on 18th August of 1945 had not cause the end of that life immortal.

[Priya Sambhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well its an honest book written by someone who was close to Subhash Chandra Bose ...
So it has many episodes which went missing from history of our country fight of freedom.
very informative book regarding world wars..those who are keen to know more about our freedom journey, they are going to adore this book...

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on Netaji. It was my first book on the great leader and left a strong impression on me. Netaji could have altered history if his INA had prevailed against the British Indian Army. The book is a must read for all readers of Indian independence movement.

[Keya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely inspirational biography of one of the greatest Indian leader. Details captured about Netaji's life and his fight for freeing his country is very beautiful captured in this book. Respect for Him and his vision for India increases manifold.

[Vishakh Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a complete account. Well researched and thankfully shorn of any conspiracy theories. Not too reverential but lacking in critical analysis.
Worth a read.

[Projeet Mukherjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I visited Kolkata for the first time in 8 years with my family a month ago and stopped by Netaji Bhawan. The historical significance of the site really amazed me and I found myself compelled to pick up a copy of His Majesty's Opponent there.

Subhas Chandra Bose's life exemplifies the importance of sacrifice. His actions throughout his political and social career show his immense dedication to the idea of "Swaraj", or a free India, which is incredibly inspiring. Bose believed that while the moral soul is intended to die on earth, ideas live on forever, especially ideas for the greater good which are truly suffered for. Sugata Bose covers Bose's life from top to bottom with the utmost attention to detail. He paints a fantastic picture of not only Netaji's political views, but his intense appreciation for spirituality, art, and literature. The story of Netaji's life is one that I think anyone can learn a lot from and his journey inspires me to this day. The various anecdotes about the sacrifices he made for his beliefs live rent free in my head and I find myself lost in thought randomly throughout the day thinking of the willpower of this man.

If you want a full run-down of the life and legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose and his battle for a free India, this is THE book to buy. My only potential criticisms of this book would be these: 1. It does read a little bit like a school textbook sometimes and there are some sections that seem to drag on with a little bit too much detail on topics that seem somewhat unimportant in the grand scheme of things. 2. At the end Sugata Bose does a great job talking about the controversy of Netaji's death but I wish he spent some time at the end addressing in a clear cut manner what happened to people like Sarat Chandra Bose and other members of the family that were in jail when Netaji died. He touches on this briefly but I do think a few pages on this would've been nice.

Subhas Chandra Bose is a man that every Indian should learn about in my opinion and this book is a great entry point into the fascinating life of a fascinating man.

[Chandar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well researched and lucidly written book. It made me wonder why the details of this amazing man's exploits were never covered in our school history textbooks. Perhaps because the history writers of the day, basking in the glory of the 'righteous' and newly-independent state were squeamish about his dalliances with the Axis powers? Or because there were ugly rumors of pilferage from the funds of the Government in exile when the war ended (which, incidentally this book too does not refer to)?

And then that tantalizing question - how would the story have turned out if Subhas' INA had broken through the British ranks at Imphal and Kohima and managed to hasten their departure from India? Would we have had authoritarian rule (as Subhas seems to have advocated, for a limited period of time to tackle the hunger, poverty and illiteracy on a war footing) or would he have fallen in with a Nehruvian socialist democracy, and if so what would his contribution have been (for he was immensely as charismatic and dynamic as Nehru, and had very vivid plans for India's development)?

Read this book. And enjoy wondering about what could have been! A great read!

[siddhant. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in 2022, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled Netaji's statute dawning the India Gate. There he was, the man who gave the slogan "Chalo Delhi" in the centre of the capital, replacing the mark of the statue of George V -- the sun had finally set on the British Empire.

Bose's legacy is troubled because of his collaboration with the Axis powers in World War 2. This might be the way the world looks at him. To Indians, by and large, he is a gallant hero. Someone whose foci was India's independence, and for that, he could take inconvenient positions. From the pages of Sugata Bose's biography appears the patriot of patriots, a firm believer in freedom being India's divine destiny, a man devoutly religious and, simultaneously, a flag bearer of Hindu-Muslim unity, a man with unreal clarity about his ideas, and the man who mobilised prisoners of wars to take on the mighty British empire. The Indian National Army may not have succeeded on the battlefield, it lost the battle, but it won the war by weakening the institution of the British Army which allowed the British to rule over India for all these years. Jai Hind!

[Rajeev Tyagi]

I have always been thrilled with the stories around Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s escapes, and his death. There have been stories/theories about how he is still alive. But, somehow, as a student, I haven’t read much about him in school. My first profound encounter with Subhas Bose was with the book, Nehru and Bose: Parallel lives by Rudrangshu Mukherjee.

Having read Sugata Bose, Netaji’s Grandnephew, before I thought this book would be a complex wordplay, hard to engage with. Hence, for a very long time, I have been apprehensive about reading this version of Netaji’s life. But, people say this probably is the best version of that available. 20 pages into the book, Sugata Bose proves me wrong. This is a fairly descriptive account of Netaji’s life, written with elegance, and intent. Once you pick up the book, it is hard to put it down. Maybe, it is Netaji’s life itself- interesting and engaging.
The story gives a new angle to the freedom struggle, which definitely is least explored. This book answers the pertinent question if Netaji is still alive or dead.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book, but also incredibly dense. It was interesting to learn about Bose, as he was just as important in Indian history as Gandhi and yet he is never talked about. It was interesting to follow his life from beginning to his death in 1945. Saying that, this book was difficult to read, as it is dense with information and weaving storylines, such as his history with his wife, his interest in politics, his changing views of Japan and Germany during WWII. It's just a lot to take in, but this book is fascinating even so.

[Polo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an insightful and detailed description of a great life. this book is more like a text book with many references. If you are looking for thrill, then I am afraid that this book is not written for you. This book helps you to know many things which you were only assuming. This book is truthful, straight and chronological tale of the life and perhaps a bit of the after life of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Over all, reading this book gave me a good and nice feeling.

[Sandip Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tight yet comprehensive biography of a man who could have changed the course of our nation to a much more stronger, cleaner and more progressive one had he lived to see India's freedom. His vision, foresight and pragmatism and intellectual depth on the national and global affairs was way ahead of its time and so relevant to whats happening in India and the rest of the world. Very well written book with a balanced perspective without any sensationalism. Recommended for all....

[DM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first part of this book, discussing his family, upbringing, and education. The second half faltered a bit - there was a lot of adulatory praise for his politics and minute details of military actions, but I didn't quite get what kind of political thinker he was or what was driving him. A sense of how his life story shaped his politics was missing, which is normally what I like in bibliographies. I also wished the book had grappled with his legacy a bit more critically.

[Abhishek Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provides a rich and accurate account of Subhash's life, very interesting and inspiring. The author is however grandnephew of Subhash, and also has been a Trinamool Congress MP (2014 -2019) from WB. So he indulges in hero worship and totally avoids contentious issues like ill treatment of INA soldiers by Japanese officers etc. This book should also put to rest all rumours surrounding Netaji's death. I recommend it.

[Girish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't recommend it for those who want to read about Subhash Chandra Bose.

Author has written with a colored lens with resorting to use 'terrorist' word for those who didn't follow the path of non-violence in Indian Freedom struggle.

Read it only to know the journey of bose which I have not read till now at all. Have to find another book to know more on his life.

[Rohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really good. Gave a good overview of Subhas Chandra Bose's life and demonstrated how sharp and clear thinking he was. Sadly, he did not prevail but his insight that the British would split up India proved to be prescient. He was genuinely a very interesting figure and even in his most tainted moments he kept close to his morals and aim.