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.’