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 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, Politics, Nonfiction

560 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 15, 2007

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

[Kazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

পৃথিবীর অনেক দেশেই দীর্ঘদিন ধরে সংঘাত চলছে, এর মাঝেও কিছু নির্দিষ্ট সংঘাত তাদের অবস্থানগত ভূরাজনৈতিক গুরুত্ব / সংঘাতের সময়সীমার দৈর্ঘ্য / রক্তপাতের মাত্রার কারণে অধিকতর আলোচিত হয়ে থাকে। এরকম ৫টি সংঘাতকে বিশ্লেষণ করা হয়েছে এই বইটিতে। সেগুলো হচ্ছে শ্রীলঙ্কা, সাইপ্রাস, বসনিয়া, কাশ্মীর আর ফিলিস্তিন।

প্রতিবেশী দেশ হিসেবে কাশ্মীর আর শ্রীলঙ্কা নিয়ে মোটামুটি জানা ছিল, ফিলিস্তিন তো পৃথিবীর সবচেয়ে আলোচিত বিষয়ের একটি। একেবারেই নতুন জানলাম সাইপ্রাস আর বসনিয়া নিয়ে। বিশেষ করে বসনিয়ার জাতিগত বৈচিত্র্য আর সংঘাতের প্রকৃতি রীতিমতো হতবুদ্ধিকর। শান্তি প্রক্রিয়াগুলো আমাদের কাছে সাধারণত পত্রিকার শিরোনাম হয়েই থাকে, সেগুলোর খুঁটিনাটি বিশ্লেষণ ভালো লেগেছে।

এই ৫টি জায়গার সমস্যার প্রকৃতি আলাদা, কাজেই আলোচনার ব্যাপ্তি আর উপকরণও ভিন্ন। কিন্তু সবশেষে লেখকের মতে শান্তি প্রতিষ্ঠার জন্য দুটো উপাদান খুব জরুরি। প্রথমটা হচ্ছে শক্তিশালী এবং কার্যত নিরপেক্ষ তৃতীয় পক্ষের উপস্থিতি, মধ্যস্থতাকারী হিসেবে।। দ্বিতীয়টি হচ্ছে শান্তি প্রতিষ্ঠার জন্য বড় লক্ষ্য স্থির করে দ্রুত সেটা বাস্তবায়নের ইচ্ছা এবং সাহস, কারণ দীর্ঘ মেয়াদে ছোট ছোট শর্ত পূরণ করে বড় লক্ষ্যের দিকে আগাতে গিয়ে অধিকাংশ ক্ষেত্রে শান্তি প্রক্রিয়া মাঝপথে গতি হারিয়ে মুখ থুবড়ে পড়ে।

ভূরাজনৈতিক এবং জাতিগত সংঘাত নিয়ে আগ্রহ থাকলে পড়া উচিত, বেশ সুখপাঠ্য বই।

[Sanjay Banerjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author delves into 5 key conflicts of recent times - their background and history, the timelines of the conflicts and the attempted peace processes. These are Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Bosnia, Kashmir and Israel/Palestine. The book was written in 2007 and therefore not updated on recent developments like the one Sri Lanka. Still it provided me with further insights (I have read a lot especially on Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Israel/Palestine) than what I had gathered from my other readings and interactions with people. In many places, it provides an alternate narrative different from what is conventionally narrated especially in the Western media (especially on Israel/Palestine and Bosnia). In the final chapter, the author provides his own conclusions on how each of these intractable conflicts can be resolved - third-party mediation/active involvement/nudging and not resorting to incremental measures towards resolution. I would recommend this book highly to those interested in learning about the above 5 conflicts.

[قصي بن خليفة · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب يحكي نبذة عن 5 مناطق نزاع كما يسمونها... كتبه سومانترا بوز الأستاذ الجامعي في السياسة بلغة "حيادية" لا يتطرق فيها إلى من المعتدي ومن المعتدى عليه، وإنما يصف المشكلة وبعض الأحداث، ومحاولات الوصول إلى حل
~~~~~
وفي ظل التشويش الإعلامي كنت أرى أني بحاجة لمعرفة شيء مما يحدث، وقد وجدته مفيداً بشكل عام.... ويبدو أن للكاتب مصداقية فقدها عند الحديث عن فلسطين التي اختصرها كثيراً
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في الكتاب، لمن يتأمّل، رؤية للتاريخ وكيف يصنع... وكيف أن التجبر والظلم يطغى ويعلو بدون المقاومة، والتي إن وجدت هي الأمان الوحيد للمظلوم .... دائماً هي القوة!... لا سلام ولا تفاوض بدون قوة
~~~~~

بالنسبة لفلسطين انتبهت إلى اصطلاح النكبة وغيرها كالنكسة والكارثة وغيرها والتي يتداولها الناس والتي تدل أن الاحتلال الغاشم من اليهود والغرب إنما هو مصيبة جاءت هكذا !! عجيب

[Nolan I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright… this is a tough read. Seems like there is not really any action and is hard to keep up with all of the names/people. Tons of information and you learn a lot from it, it’s just hard to absorb knowledge on the first read. Will be back

[Hzz15743 · Rating 4 out of 5]

下载1: https://libgen.lc/item/index.php?md5=...
下载2: https://ebook2.lorefree.com/book?book...

[Jon Montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Palestine chapter

[mahek prajapati · Rating 5 out of 5]

easily top 5 for me

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1041807.html[return][return]Sumantra Bose first hit my radar screen when he wrote the best analysis I have read of post-war Bosnia. Here he combines that research with one other case that I know nearly as well - Cyprus - and three others about which I know much less - indeed I was astonished to realise just how little I knew about Kashmir. Also, although he doesn't give it separate treatment, Northern Ireland is a constant point of reference throughout the book.[return][return]I found this a very clear-headed analysis. These are all awful cases of human misery caused by other humans, and great powers meddling irresponsibly (one point he doesn't make, but which struck me, is that the Kashmir and Israel/Palestine situations share the experience of an indecently precipitate British withdrawal in 1947/1948). For all that, there has not been a lot of cross-referencing between them by scholars or practitioners.[return][return]The two cases I am more familiar with both essentially have their solutions mapped out - actively in the case of Dayton and Bosnia, potentially in the case of the Annan Plan and Cyprus. Bose does not hesitate to be prescriptive in the other three cases, where a settlement is not currently on the table - the Tamils will not get independence, but must get autonomy, with guarantees for the non-Tamil minorities; there will be no referendum in Kashmir, and the Line of Control will become the permanent boundary, but India has to deliver on autonomy for the area it controls and India and Pakistan must open up the LOC; there must be a Palestinian state, and Hamas must be brought into the political process. He makes the cases compellingly, though my libertarian heart regrets that the Kashmiris will clearly not get the independence that they apparently actually want.[return][return]Bose draws two lessons from the five cases. First, that constructive third-party engagement is essential to help move local actors away from zero-sum games. I couldn't agree more. The dog that doesn't bark here, in a way, is Northern Ireland: the 1998 settlement was essentially what was on the table in 1973 (as Seamus Mallon said, "Sunningdale for slow learners"). But it did require an externally appointed chairman of the calibre of George Mitchell to get everyone to agree to what in the end they knew they would have to agree to. Even then, of course, it took another nine years to nail down properly, but (whatever the DUP may say) 1998 is the moment of departure.[return][return]Bose's second point is that it is much better to start by aiming for the big picture rather than an incremental approach. This is slightly more controversial, but my instinct is again that he is basically right. The poster child of failure here is the Oslo process in the Middle East, but I've heard it said in the Cyprus context especially as well: in the absence of a big picture agreement (or even the framework of one) within which to operate, negotiating confidence-building measures can be a huge diversion of energy and can actually result in worse rather than better relations between the parties. (Supporters of incrementalism may complain that it was never seriously tried in Cyprus, and never seriously implemented in the Middle East, but perhaps those difficulties illustrate the basic problem.)[return][return]One conceptual point which Bose hints at, and I wish he had explored more, is the issue of democracy. In polarised situations, it is almost natural for politicians to try and compete with each other in chauvinism rather than in their willingness to accommodate - Sri Lanka and Israel/Palestine are particularly obvious examples, as indeed is Northern Ireland. This creates difficulties for international peace-builders who (and this is my analysis, not Bose's) will instinctively try to construct "moderates" who are worth engaging with and "hardliners" who are not, essentially judging the standing of the local actors by the extent to which they are prepared to talk pretty for the internationals. Of course, the only criterion for credibility in the end is the level of your popular support; and while it is reasonable to set certain hurdles to participation in formal dialogue, it is stupid to set them in such a way that you prevent the critical mass necessary to consolidate the process from forming. Democracy is a hugely complicating factor in conflict resolution, but also a very necessary one.

[Damar Yoga Kusuma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking at the conflict, history, and its resolves, make us ponder on realities that somewhere out there, peoples are struggling just to enjoy a peaceful and prosperous lives which most of us took it for granted. An eye opener, for anyone who upholds and honours justice, we share the responsibility to be actively involved in the peace-building process, by whatever means necessary.

As for muslims (I myself am) who, according to our teaching condemn doing wrong and being wronged, this essays would left a greater concerns, where four out of five cases presented, put muslims as major player.

[Andrew Mcneill]

It's a very good and scholarly book. It's heavy on detail and description of the various situations. But I found it a bit dull and difficult to read. Scholarly and enjoyable are not opposed to each other.

[Abhijit Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read book if you want to know about some of the most disruptive conflicts of yore as well as those continuing even today.

[Vera]

Ambitious.