His Majesty’s Opponent

In this classic biography of the revered Indian nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose, popularly known as Netaji (“leader”), Sugata Bose explores a charismatic personality whose life encapsulated the contradictions of twentieth-century history. Netaji struggled all his life to liberate his people from British rule and, in pursuit of that goal, led the Indian National Army against Allied Forces during World War II. The author brilliantly evokes Netaji’s formation in the intellectual milieu of Calcutta and Cambridge and analyzes his ascent to the peak of nationalist politics. Amid riveting accounts of imprisonment and travels, we discern the true aim of his life’s work: to unite Hindu and Muslim, men and women, and diverse linguistic groups within a single independent Indian nation. The book concludes with an authoritative account of Netaji’s untimely death in a plane crash, putting to rest rumors about the fate of this “deathless hero.”