Towards Freedom: Documents on the Movement for Independence in India 1946 (Part I)

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 in five chapters, different aspects of the history of British India beginning with Anti-British Movements in 1946, including the protests against the trial of the officers and soldiers of the Indian National Army and the Famous Royal Indian Navy Mutiny. The second chapter covers the various political organizations with special attention to the socialist and Left Groups within the Congress, Communist Party of India, Hindu Mahasabha, and the Muslim League. Chapter three focuses on peasants and industrial working classes while the fourth chapter deals with the social, political and regional dimensions of communalism. The last segment covers economic conditions and policies together with some interesting sections on caste and linguistic regional movements, and questions of women’s status and culture. A unique source material, this volume presents unpublished documents from the national and state archives and Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, as well as extracts from English newspapers. It also sheds light on neglected areas like gender history, cultural movements, working class agitations, and subaltern movements. The General Editor’s Preface of the Towards Freedom series provides the context and focus. In the introduction, Sumit Sarkar provides an insightful and lucid historical background to the documents. The Calendar of Documents at the beginning of the volume 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.