Indian Nationalism: A History

When the first edition of this book appeared, India's independence from British rule was still a relatively recent event. This fifth edition coincides with the return of the Congress Party to political power as the leading party in a new government in India. The book gives a clear and comprehensive account of the complex factors which led to the rise and eventual success of Indian nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries until recent times. It presents the story of what was involved in the freedom struggle - the nationalist demands brought together by clearly formulated, underlying notions of cultural and national identity which convinced the British politicians that their withdrawal was not only a necessity but an imperative that could not be, nor should be, long denied. The analysis begins with the groups and individuals responsible for Western-style political organisations, examining their social background and the part played by the Indian National Congress in the stru