The saga of the Indian National Movement, with its unique leadership and ideological foundation, continues to engage those interested in the history of India. Raj to Swaraj: A Textbook on Colonialism and Nationalism in India takes its readers through the panorama of modern Indian history, with all its trials and tribulations, and keeps it intellectually stimulating all through the narrative. This textbook for students attempts to present its case, free from ideological biases. The result of a lifelong engagement with teaching and research, this book incorporates the sharp classroom debates and analysis of bright and committed students, thus enriching its formulations and interpretations. It provides a fresh look at the national struggle for independence and attempts to provoke, promote and unleash, critical and creative thinking among the student community. In the process, it seeks to relieve them from the drudgery of working as intellectual foot soldiers to the authorities in our academia. This book marks a departure from the earlier studies in terms of its new and updated sources as well as in its freedom from the great ideological divides that continue to bedevil our academic life. As such, it avoids both the extremes of woolly sentimentalism and ideology-based debunking. Essentially eclectic and synthesising in its approach, and written in a lucid style, the book covers different phases and facets of our national struggle. To that end, it adopts a thematic, rather than a chronological narrative. The book will prove invaluable for students of political science and modern Indian history, as well as general readers.
About the Author
Ram Chandra Pradhan, a well-known social activist and Gandhian Scholar, taught at Ramjas College, University of Delhi for several decades. As one of the conveners of the Lokayan project and as an activist thinker of the Movement for Peace and Alternative Development, he travelled all over the world and interacted with activists and scholars across the continents. Dr. Pradhan has been a recipient of the Senior Fulbright Fellowship (1979-80) and the Indo-Canadian Shastri Fellowship (1993). He is the author of several books including Raj to Swaraj, Raj se Swaraj (Hindi) and Reading and Reappraising Gandhi. He is engaged in writing a multi-volume study of the Indian Socialist Movement. Presently, he is an Honorary Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Gandhian Studies, Wardha (Maharashtra).
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