An understanding of the period from 1830 when Raja Rammohan Roy took first faltering steps on the road to what later came to be known as the Indian Renaissance, to 1947, the year which became the culmination point for various socio-political processes, is essential for a correct appraisal of our present predicament. Sankar Ghose in the present work deals with this significant period by presenting brief but adequate life-histories of prominent leaders who were shaped by and in turn shaped the prevailing social and political currents in the Indian society of their time. Exploring the exotic realm of history is always an exciting affair. But a move in the recent history of one’s own society and country has an added attraction in that it gives us an account of why we are what we are today?
Nov-Dec 1980, volume 5, No 11/12