Those of you who read my article in History Today last November, [ilink url="http://hughpurcell.co.uk/?page_id-336"]The Afterlife of India’s Fascist Leader[/ilink], may be interested that the book The Search for Netaji: New Findings has arrived on my desk for a History Today review. The author, a distinguished Indian academic from Kolkata, Dr Purabi Roy, told me last year that she is convinced Netaji’s (‘The Great Leader’) supposed death in an air crash in 1945 was faked and that he escaped to the Soviet Union, there to continue his fight for Indian independence. What’s more, she said, she knew there were documents in the Russian and Indian archives that proved this. Her new book, which was the result of years of research, would provide conclusive ‘new findings’. Already, she said, she had received death threats because Bose was an iconic figure in Bengal history. Any tinkering with his almost sacred image would cause offence among his followers. Now the book is out and we await a sensation. So far none has swept across the internet. Having glanced at the book I can see why. More to follow.
Perhaps as a spoiling operation, a more orthodox biography of Subhas Chandra Bose is due out this month (May 2011) written by one of his great nephews, Sugata Bose, who is a professor at Harvard University. I shall compare the two.