The Satyamurti Letters: The Indian Freedom Struggle Through the Eyes of a Parliamentarian (Volume I)

The Satyamurti Letters, collected in two volumes, spans Satyamurti’s career as a state MLA in Madras and later in the Delhi Central Assembly, where he rose to the position of Deputy Leader of the Congress Party. The letters collected in The Satyamurti Letters, Volume I from a trajectory of the evolution of the Home Rule Movement. Satyamurti’s passion for politics in evident in his correspondence with luminaries like Vijayaraghavachariar, Edwin Montagu, Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant, C.R. Das, Rajagopalachari and many other contemporaries. Right from Satyamurti’s debut in politics, this volume travels through time and gives us glimpses of the work of the Swaraj Party in the Madras legislative council,  the turbulent years (ranging from 1927 to 1934) of the Simon Commission’s labours, Mahatma Gandhi’s Civil disobedience movement, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact and round table conference on India’s political future, Satyamurti’s trials and tribulations as President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and, finally, the Congress Party’s victory in the new provincial elections with Satyamurti opting out, offering his chosen constituency to his senior, C. Rajagopalachari. This invaluable collection of letters, telegrams and documents throws considerable light on the styles and strategies of the most famous political figures of the period. It can be best described as a collection of historical snapshots and will be a treasure for historians, history students, and all lovers of this particular time in India’s history.