Subhas Chandra Bose

Distilled from the authoritative, twelve-volume Collected Works, this collection stands a concise introduction to the thought of India's foremost militant nationalist.

‘Jai Hind!’ Subhas Chandra Bose’s stirring war cry brought hope to Indians everywhere. Indian soldiers in Japanese prisoners-of-war camps as well as freedom-loving youth in the country were infected by his call to arms. Though born to wealth and comfort, this brilliant scholar was also a born leader. His ideas and efforts went a long way in gaining India her freedom from British rule.

Subhas Chandra Bose, Affectionately Called As Netaji, Was A Paragon Celeb¬Rity Of The Universe Of 20Th Century Chronicle. His Role In India S Freedom Struggle, As A Revolutionary, Has Been Note-Worthy. He Was A Prominent Figure Of The World War Second Too.He Was The President Of B.P.C.C., Chief Of A.I.Y.F., President Of Indian National Congress (1938-39), A Prominent Figure Of The First Indian Central European Society, The Indian Central European Chamber Of Culture, Austrian Social Welfare Commission, The Indo-Irish League, The Yugantar Party Of Revolutionaries, The Oriental Institute, Prague, The Indo-Czechoslovakian Society, Head Of The Provisional Government Of Free India And The Chief Of The Indian National Army, Etc.He Did Not See Eye To Eye With Mahatama Gandhi S Approach To India S Freedom And Other Problems But He Worked Under His Unique Leadership From 1920 To 1939.In These Volumes Which Cover Mainly The Period From 1936-1946 A Considerable Light Has Been Thrown On All Facets Of Bose S Life, Ana¬Lysed His Speeches, Statements, Talks, Messages, Writings, And Circulars And Also Important Correspondence With Mahatma Gandhi, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Vithalbhai Patel, Dr. Rudalf Darnel, C. B. Gupta, Several High British Officials, Mrs. Woods, Faltis, A.C. Dutta, Nambiar, Prague, Tojo, Lesny, Craik And A Number Of Other National And International Personali¬Ties. Some Other Important Documents Pertaining To Him Also Have Been Included In The Appendices Of The Volumes. These Documents Cover The Period From 1928 To 1935.The Volumes Throw Light On His Role In Several Important Events Of The Time, Including The World War Se¬Cond, And His Contribution For The Freedom Of India And Other Countries. They Also Bring Out His Spirit Of Selfless Service And Sacrifice, Patriotism, Cour¬Age Of Conviction, Hard Working Temperament And Many Other Sterling Qualities.The Volumes Constitute An Impor¬Tant Primary Source Material For The History Of Freedom Movement In India And Several Other Countries.

On the morning of April 3, 1941, 'Orlando Mazzotta', a man posing as an Italian diplomat, walked up the steps of the German Foreign Office on the Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin, having arrived from Moscow the previous afternoon. The Under-Secretary of State, Dr Ernst Woermann, immediately received him and listened carefully as he spoke of establishing a government-in-exile and launching a military offensive. The government he had in mind was Indian and the target of his offensive was British India. Although Woermann was taken aback by the nature of these proposals, he should not have been. 'Orlando Mazzotta' was in fact Subhas Chandra Bose, an Indian leftist radical nationalist and former President of the Indian National Congress who had escaped a few months earlier from Calcutta and reached Kabul. From there, the German and Italian legations assisted him in reaching Berlin, via Moscow, under Italian diplomatic cover. Bose is one of India's national icons, practically on a par with Gandhi, a hero of anti-colonial resistance against the British, who established the Indian National Army in order to recruit Indian soldiers to fight the imperial power. His activities in Nazi Germany - particularly taking into account their inevitably highly controversial implications - merit scrupulous, scholarly and detailed study, yet till today almost everything published on the subject has been suffused with hagiography. This book is the first to focus exclusively on Bose's interactions with Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Hayes's narrative makes extensive use of German, Indian and British documents, including memoranda, notes, minutes, reports, telegrams, letters and broadcasts, and he also presents the reader with fresh scholarly sources from the German historical archives. His book takes not only the political dimension into consideration but the intelligence and propaganda angles too, including the recruitment and training of Indian POWs captured in North Africa. Emphasis is also placed on the specific roles of key actors including Hitler, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Gandhi, Nehru, Mussolini, Churchill, Sir Stafford Cripps, Chiang Kai-shek, General Hideki Tojo and, to a lesser extent Dr Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler and Count Galeazzo Ciano. Hayes's objective is to reveal a lesser-known aspect of Nazi foreign policy and to challenge and provide an alternative to Gandhi-centric portrayals of the Indian independence movement. His book, augmented by a fascinating selection of hitherto largely unpublished photographs, will appeal to those interested in the Third Reich, Indian nationalism and anti-colonialism and the Second World War.

This is the English edition of a trilingual biography of Subhas Chandra Bose, the German and Japanese editions being the other two. The aim of the biography is to place Subhas Chandra Bose in a correct historical perspective with regard to his much publicised revolutionary activities, and to provide an understanding of an extremely complex man, much maligned by Britain and greatly misunderstood by her allies.

Subhas Chandra Bose continues to be a well-known figure in India more than fifty years after his death, but in the West remains a shadowy figure unknown to many. He made headlines worldwide as the extremist leader of the Provisional Government of Free India after its establishment by the Axis powers during World War II and was viewed as sort of an Asian Hitler or Quisling, but when the Allies crushed Bose’s Indian National army, the world seemed quickly to forget him. This work is a biography of Bose, the self-proclaimed Netaji, or “revered leader,” who sought to bring down the British Raj by making alliances with Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo during World War II and by helping India thrive economically and politically as a free socialist nation. It details his political activities, including radio broadcasts in which he attempted to sway his countrymen with pro–Axis propaganda and predicted a bloody end to imperialism at the hands of Axis powers, and his commanding of two liberation armies, one under Nazi authority and the other under Tokyo’s auspices, made up of rehabilitated and coerced prisoners of war. Bose is noted for having unified his country’s multiethnic population and enlisting the support of Indians overseas, all the while incurring the wrath of the Allies, who crushed his armies and his hopes of transforming India into a socialist nation. A discussion of his mysterious death in a plane crash while en route to an unknown location in 1945 concludes the book.

This definitive biography of Subhas Chandra Bose, the revered and controversial Indian nationalist who struggled to liberate his country from British rule before and during World War II, moves beyond the legend to reveal the impassioned life and times of the private and public man.

Subhas Chandra Bose opposed Gandhi on several occasions, was at times also a bitter rival of Nehru, and waged war against Mountbatten. This is his story, and that of the alternative, armed struggle for Indian independence that he came to stand for --a story of the freedom struggle that ran in parallel and that left behind many heroes. ‘Give me blood and I will give you freedom.’ Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s words are deeply etched in the minds of millions of Indians. A great political thinker and radical nationalist, Netaji played a very active and prominent role in India’s political life. In the 1930s he was a leader of the Indian National Congress, and later of the Indian National Army (INA), during World War II. Read the mesmerizing account of the life of this charismatic leader whose only dream was to see his beloved motherland free from foreign rule. This compelling biography gives us insightful details about Netaji’s legendary life, and throws light on his mysterious death in 1945. A shining example of leadership, integrity, sacrifice and valour, Netaji continues to inspire young readers even today.