Introduction

First published in 1937, India captures the tense and tumultuous developments in India that would eventually result in her freedom a decade later. The author, unaware of this future of freedom, still holds hope for India’s continued existence under the British Commonwealth even as she meticulously records India’s vacillating constitutional status over several Round Table Conferences.

Content and Themes

The Conferences reveal what the author considers India’s greatest problem: protracted strife within various religious and social communities. The casual racism and the superiority complex spread across the book is a reminder that the author thinks and talks like a coloniser, but if one can get past that, the book will prove to be an engaging read with its interesting anecdotes, astute observations, and a failed prediction.

Audience

Students of postcolonial studies, history, ethnic studies, colonial history, and journalism will greatly benefit from reading this book.