India can never ever forget the brave son of the soil Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. He along with his elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose laid the foundation for the extremists fight against the British Raj. There are some known and some unknown facts about these great leaders. This book attempts to uncover the same.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (Pic: Unknown (Netaji Research Bureau, Calcutta), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23rd January, 1897 in Cuttack. He studied in the Protestant European School from 1902 to 1909. He then joined Ravenshaw Collegiate School and studied there till 1912. Both schools were in Cuttack. He studied in 2 colleges – Presidency College and Scottish Church College – both in Calcutta. He went on to clear the Indian Civil Services Exam in London at the behest of his father. However, the patriot in him could not allow him to continue and he resigned in England itself.

He came to India and joined the Congress in the bid to free India. Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das had a great early influence on him. However, slowly he would realise that freedom had to be snatched from the jaws of the British and it could not be done through non violence and that led to the formation of the Indian National Army (INA) or Azad Hind Fauj.

Sarat Chandra Bose

Sarat Chandra Bose
Sarat Chandra Bose (Pic: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Netaji’s elder brother – Sarat Chandra Bose was born on 6th September, 1889. His primary education was in Cuttack and college in Calcutta. He went to England and became a barrister. He was a great influence to his younger brother Subhas Chandra Bose during his childhood. Netaji found a great support in his activities from his brother and sister in law, Bibhabati Devi. He assisted his brother in the formation and running of the Forward Block. He was also an active participant in the Quit India Movement.

Brothers Against The Raj

This book covers their lives from their young age and has some interesting insertions of some of the letters written by the 2 brothers. The author Leonard Gordon has interviewed their brothers, family members and contemporaries. He has also gone through archival material records and hundreds of unpublished letters. They were indeed controversial and many may not have agreed to their ideologies. However, it is now well known that the INA trails had a huge role to play in our freedom and the INA was not possible without Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

What This Book Covers?

This book traces the family back to the Kodalia days. It talks about the childhood of Netaji and his mischiefs. It touches upon the period of the Bengal Partition. It also talks about their life in England during their studies. No book about Netaji can be complete without the Gandhi vs Bose factions. Their ideologies were different and even though they started off together, they decided to sail in different boats. This book also covers the collaborations of Netaji with the Axis powers. It talks about his life in Europe and Asia.

Hence, a knowledge of these great leaders is a must for every Indian. We need to know and learn the sacrifices they made in their lives so that our great nation can be free some day. There are so many interesting topics covered in this book that this book is a must read indeed. Hence, I would suggest everyone to definitely read this book. It will definitely be worth every penny you spend on it. The links to paper back and Kindle editions are given below.

If you have any further questions, please leave a comment below and I will be happy to answer them. Also, please feel free to check out the other reviews in various categories.

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