Towards Freedom: Documents on the Movement for Independence in India 1945

The Towards Freedom volumes, each edited by a distinguished scholar, bring together historical materials relating to the period 1937-47 from a wide variety of sources–official records, private and organizational papers, newspapers, and other contemporary publications available within the country. It presents, documents relating to the activities, attitudes, and ideas of diverse classes and sections of Indian society, all of which contributed to the attainment of independence with partition. This volume systematically covers major developments of the year 1945, when the empire was perceived to be on the brink of its termination. Chapters 1,9 and 10 cover various aspects of the Indian National Army — the campaigns, speeches and broadcasts, the trial, and the mass upsurge. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with the freedom campaign both in India and the West. Chapters 4 to 7 document the repeated failures to bring about a consensus on forming a government at the centre with various political parties. Chapter 8 focuses on the Popular Movements–States Peoples’ Movements and the Workers–Peasants’ Movements. The last chapter highlights certain pronouncements of leaders, debates on ideas about the future of India, and the publications that happened to occur in 1945. A unique source material, this volume presents unpublished documents from the national and state archives and Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, as well as extracts from English newspapers. Including some rarely seen before internal communications within the Azad Hind Fauj, it sheds important light on various aspects of anti-colonial resistance in British and Princely India, Socio-Cultural Movements and Legislations, Peasant Agitations, and Subaltern Movements. The General Editor’s preface of the Towards Freedom series provides the context and focus. In this volume, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya also gives an insightful and lucid historical background to the documents. The calendar of documents at the beginning of the book is an excellent guide to the selected source material. This volume will be indispensable for research scholars, professional historians, teachers and students of history, particularly those concerned with the Indian National Movement and British Imperialism.