Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom

The history of India’s struggle for freedom is usually told from the perspective of the

non-violent movement. Yet, the story of armed resistance to colonial occupation is just
as important. Names such as Vinayak Savarkar, Aurobindo Ghosh, Rashbehari Bose,
Bagha Jatin, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and Subhas
Chandra Bose are still widely remembered. Their story is almost always presented as
acts of individual heroism and not as part of a wider movement that had any
overarching strategy or significant impact on the overall struggle for Independence.
In reality, the revolutionaries were part of a large network that sustained armed
resistance against the British Empire for half a century. They not only created a wide
network inside India but also established nodes in Britain, France, Thailand, Germany,
Persia, Russia, Italy, Ireland, the United States, Japan and Singapore. At various
points, they received official support and recognition from the governments of some of
these countries. Even the internal dynamics of the Indian National Congress of the time
cannot be understood without the revolutionaries, who enjoyed widespread support
within the organization.
This was no small-scale movement of naive individual heroism but one that involved a
large number of extraordinary young men and women who were connected in multiple
ways to each other and to the evolving events of their times.
Revolutionaries tells their story, one that is replete with swashbuckling adventure,
intrigue, espionage, incredible bravery, diabolical treachery and shockingly
unpredictable twists of fate.