The Indian Struggle 1920–1942 is Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s major political study of the movement for independence in which he himself was a leading participant. The book provides a lucid, analytical narrative of the freedom struggle, from the gathering clouds of the Non-Co-operation and Khilafat movements to the unleashing of the mighty storm of the Quit India and Azad Hind movements. The story of the political upheavals of the inter-war period is enriched by Netaji’s reflections on the key themes in Indian history and a finely etched assessment of Mahatma Gandhi’s role in it.

Bose wrote the first part of his narrative, 1920–1934, as an exile in Europe and the second part, 1935–1942, also in Europe eight years later. When the first part was published in 1935 its entry into India was banned by the British government. The book was, however, warmly welcomed in literary and political circles in Europe. The Manchester Guardian described it as ‘perhaps the most interesting book which has yet been written by an Indian politician on Indian politics.’ Romain Rolland hailed it as an ‘indispensable work for the history of the Indian movement.’

Sisir Kumar Bose (1920–2000) founded the Netaji Research Bureau in 1957 and was its guiding spirit until his death in 2000. A participant in the Indian freedom struggle, he was imprisoned by the British in the Lahore Fort, Red Fort and Lyallpur Jail. A renowned paediatrician in the post-independence period, he played a key role in preserving the best traditions of the anti-colonial movement and making possible the writing of its history.

Sugata Bose is the Gardiner Professor of History at Harvard University. His books include A Hundred Horizons: The Indian Ocean in the Age of Global Empire and His Majesty’s Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India’s Struggle against Empire.

Acknowledgements
Preface to the 2022 Edition of  The Indian Struggle
Editors’ Introduction

Introduction
Chapter I      The Clouds Gather (1920)
Chapter II      The Storm Breaks (1921)
Chapter III      The Anti-Climax (1922)
Chapter IV       The Swarajist Revolt (1923)
Chapter V      Deshabandhu C. R. Das in Power (1924–25)
Chapter VI       The Slump (1925–27)
Chapter VII       In Burmese Prisons (1925–27)
Chapter VIII      The Barometer Rises (1927–28)
Chapter IX       Signs of Coming Upheaval (1929)
Chapter X       Stormy 1930
Chapter XI       The Gandhi-Irwin Pact and After (1931)
Chapter XII       Mahatma Gandhi in Europe (1931)
Chapter XIII      The Fight Resumed (1932)
Chapter XIV      Defeat and Surrender (1933–34)
Chapter XV       The White Paper and the Communal Award
Chapter XVI      The Role of Mahatma Gandhi in Indian History
Chapter XVII      The Bengal Situation
Chapter XVIII Epilogue 1934
Chapter XIX      A Glimpse of the Future
Chapter XX       India Since 1857—A Bird’s Eye View
Chapter XXI      From January 1935 till September 1939
Chapter XXII      From September 1939 till August 1942
Appendix
Index

PLATES
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Vienna, 1934
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at his desk in Berlin, 1941