The Indian Struggle

Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements of the early 1920s to the Quit India and Azad Hind movements of the early 1940s.^[1]

Lawrence and Wishart.^[1] Bose had been in exile in Europe following his arrest and detention by the colonial government for his association with the revolutionary group, the Bengal Volunteers and his suspected role in several acts of violence.^[2] In Vienna, where he wrote the book, Bose had to largely rely on memory as he did not have access to documentary material.^[3] When Bose arrived in Karachi in December 1934 in defiance of the colonial government's ban on his entry into India, he was arrested and the original manuscript of the book seized.^[4] Published in London the following year, the book was well received by the British press and critics. The British were quick to ban it in India and Samuel Hoare, the Secretary of State for India, justified this action to the House of Commons on the grounds that it encouraged terrorism and direct action among the masses.^[1]

Second World War. A planned German edition of the book never came to fruition during Bose's stay in Europe during 1941–'43 while an Italian edition came out in 1942. He was assisted in writing the book by Emilie Schenkl whom he went on to marry and who bore him a daughter.^[5]

land reforms, state planning and a system of panchayats

Nazi party and calling for democracy both within and among political parties. Bose's ideological leaning, which he outlines in the book, has been described as 'fascistic' but it was shaped by his increasing frustration with the failure to realise Indian independence and not by a sense of megalomania.^[5]