As an Indian, one should be aware that the life we are living right now, we owe to our freedom fighters who struggled endlessly to attain freedom for India, and the least we can do to learn about them is by reading books about their struggle.
In this article, we give the top 10 books every Indian should read about our past and freedom struggle.
#1 A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport by Ramachandra Guha
About the book
Title: A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport
Author: Ramachandra Guha
Publisher: Macmillan
Pages: 496
Goodreads Rating: 4.27/5
C. K. Nayudu and Sachin Tendulkar naturally figure in this captivating cricket history in India, but so too—in arresting and unexpected ways—do Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Indian careers of those great English cricketers Lord Harris and D. R. Jardine provide a window into the operations of the Empire. In contrast, the extraordinary life of India’s first great slow bowler, Palwankar Baloo, introduces the still-unfinished struggle against caste discrimination.
Later chapters explore the competition between Hindu and Muslim cricketers in colonial India and the extraordinary passions now provoked when India plays Pakistan. An important, pioneering work, this is also a beautifully-written meditation on the ramifications of sport in society at large and on how sport can influence both social and political history.
Why do we recommend this book?
This book will literally change your life. Its influence goes well beyond books and reading for all cricket lovers. An interesting book about Indian history through the eyes of sports.
To buy A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport by Ramachandra Guha now:
#2 Annihilation of Caste by B.R. Ambedkar
B.R. Ambedkar
About the book
Title: Annihilation of Caste
Author: B.R. Ambedkar
Publisher: Blumoon Books
Pages: 100
Goodreads Rating: 4.62/5
B.R. Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste is one of the most important yet neglected works of political writing from India. Written in 1936, it is an audacious denunciation of Hinduism and its caste system.
Ambedkar—a figure like W.E.B. Du Bois—offers a scholarly critique of Hindu scriptures that sanction a rigidly hierarchical and iniquitous social system. The world’s best-known Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi, responded publicly to the provocation. The hatchet was never buried.
Why do we recommend this book?
This is an extraordinary and thought-provoking book. I highly recommend it to everyone as it is an amazing book by an amazing author rightly revered by millions of people in India.
To buy Annihilation of Caste by B.R. Ambedkar now:
#3 An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India by Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor
About the book
Title: An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India
Author: Shashi Tharoor
Publisher: Aleph Book Company
Pages: 360
Goodreads Rating: 4.17/5
In the 18th century, India’s share of the world economy was as large as Europe’s. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannons, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalised racism, and caused millions to die from starvation.
British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed. Still, Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial “gift”—from the railways to the rule of law—was designed in Britain’s interests alone. He goes on to show how Britain’s Industrial Revolution was founded on India’s deindustrialisation and the destruction of its textile industry.
In this bold and incisive reassessment of colonialism, Tharoor exposes to devastating effect the inglorious reality of Britain’s stained Indian legacy.
Why do we recommend this book?
I recommend this book to all History lovers and students of History. Tharoor’s arguments are worth reading as it gives a different approach to our freedom struggle.
To buy An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India by Shashi Tharoor now:
#4 An Indian Pilgrim by Subhas Chandra Bose
About the book
Title: An Indian Pilgrim
Author: Subhas Chandra Bose
Publisher: Jayasree Patrika Trust
Pages: 266
Goodreads Rating: 4.31/5
This is a bonafide autobiography of Subhas Chandra Bose, the unedited, unfinished, original version. In this autobiography, the author provides an honest and sincere account of his childhood memories, his life as a school-goer with a batch of cousins and relatives in Cuttack, his formative years of intellectual development as a promising student of Presidency College in Calcutta, his quest for spiritual enlightenment and his experiences as a student at the prestigious Cambridge University. The autobiography also sheds much light on Bose’s indomitable spirit in India’s freedom movement.
Why do we recommend this book?
This book gives a true but rare glimpse into the mind of the greatest of all revolutionaries, freedom fighters, and political leaders of modern India, making it one of the must-read books on the Indian freedom struggle.
To buy An Indian Pilgrim by Subhas Chandra Bose now:
#5 Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre
About the book
Title: Freedom at Midnight
Author: Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre
Publisher: Vikas Publishing House
Pages: 629
Goodreads Rating: 4.32/5
Freedom at Midnight is the true story of the events surrounding Indian independence, beginning with the appointment of Lord Mountbatten of Burma as the last Viceroy of British India and ending with the assassination and funeral of Mahatma Gandhi. The book was an international bestseller and achieved enormous acclaim in the United States, Italy, Spain, and France. It tells us about the end of an empire and the birth of two nations.
Seventy years ago, at midnight on August 14, 1947, the Union Jack began its final journey down the flagstaff of Viceroy’s House, New Delhi. A fifth of humanity claimed independence from the greatest empire history has ever seen. Still, the price of freedom was high as the nation erupted into riots and bloodshed, partition, and war.
Why do we recommend this book?
Collins and Lapierre are good writers, and their book is so interesting that they are impossible to put down; at the same time, it is very educative and informative.
To buy Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre now:
#6 Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule by Mahatma Gandhi
About the book
Title: Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule
Author: Mahatma Gandhi
Publisher: South Asia Books
Pages: 75
Goodreads Rating: 3.81/5
Mohandas Gandhi wrote this book in his native language, Gujarati, while travelling from London to South Africa onboard S.S. Kildonan Castle between November 13 and November 22, 1909. In the book, Gandhi diagnoses the problems of humanity in modern times, the causes, and his remedy.
The Gujarati edition was banned by the British for its publication in India. Gandhi then translated it into English. The English edition was not banned by the British, who rightly concluded that the book would have little impact on the English-speaking Indians’ subservience to the British and British ideas.
Why do we recommend this book?
Bapu was a fantastic author. This was one of the reasons why he has such a massive following, and it also gives insights into his motivation and the true meaning of Hind Swaraj.
To buy Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule by Mahatma Gandhi now:
#7 India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
About the book
Title: India’s Struggle for Independence
Author: Bipan Chandra
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 600
Goodreads Rating: 4.11/5
This is the first major study to examine the various strands of the epic struggle individually and collectively and present it in a new and coherent narrative and analytical framework. Based on oral and other primary sources and years of research, the authors take the reader through every step of the independence struggle from the abortive Revolt of 1857 to the final victory of 1947.
More importantly, while incorporating existing historiographical advances, the book evolves a new and lucid view of the period’s history that will endure.
Why do we recommend this book?
This book will be worth your time and energy and is great for everyone who wants to study deeply about our freedom struggle.
To buy India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra now:
#8 The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire by William Dalrymple
About the book
Title: The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire
Author: William Dalrymple
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Pages: 544
Goodreads Rating: 4.18/5
It is the story of how the East India Company took over large swaths of Asia and the devastating results of the corporation running a country. In August 1765, the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and set up, in his place, a government run by English traders who collected taxes through means of a private army.
The creation of this new government marked the moment that the East India Company ceased to be an established company and became something much more unusual: an international corporation transformed into an aggressive colonial power. For the next 47 years, the company’s reach grew until almost all of India south of Delhi was effectively ruled from a boardroom in London.
Why do we recommend this book?
This book has the story of the East India Company, nominally of London, and is a vast, sprawling, fascinating and gripping collection of great stories.
To buy The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire by William Dalrymple now:
#9 The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru
About the book
Title: The Discovery of India
Author: Jawaharlal Nehru
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pages: 642
Goodreads Rating: 4.08/5
In conjunction with the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund in New Delhi, Oxford proudly announces the reissue of Glimpses of World History and The Discovery of India, two famous works by Jawaharlal Nehru. One of the modern day’s most articulate politicians, Jawaharlal Nehru, wrote on various subjects.
Describing himself as “a dabbler in many things,” he committed his life not only to politics but also to nature and wildlife, drama, poetry, history, and science, as well as many other fields. These two volumes help to illuminate the depth of his interests and knowledge and the skill and elegance with which he treated the written word!
Why do we recommend this book?
Undoubtedly one of the finest pieces of non-fiction, Jawaharlal Nehru being the book’s writer gives more credibility to its historical events.
To buy The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru now:
#10 Why I am an Atheist by Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh
About the book
Title: Why I am an Atheist
Author: Bhagat Singh
Publisher: Delhi Open Books
Pages: 122
Goodreads Rating: 4.44/5
This book is a collection of over thirty of Bhagat Singh’s valued writings from within the walls of the prison and outside it, which show us the resolve in his words, and the bravery in his acts subsequently.
Why do we recommend this book?
Every Indian should read this book, as we all know about Bhagat Singh’s bravery; still, only a few know about his intellectual side. His letter to his father is deeply emotional. I highly recommend this book.
To buy Why I am an Atheist by Bhagat Singh now:
All the books mentioned above are essential reads for every Indian to know about our Freedom Struggle. If you haven’t read them already, do read them! Today, let’s give our freedom fighters the love and respect they deserve.
| 1 | A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport by Ramachandra Guha | Buy now |
| 2 | Annihilation of Caste by B.R. Ambedkar | Buy now |
| 3 | An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India by Shashi Tharoor | Buy now |
| 4 | An Indian Pilgrim by Subhas Chandra Bose | Buy now |
| 5 | Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre | Buy now |
| 6 | Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule by Mahatma Gandhi | Buy now |
| 7 | India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra | Buy now |
| 8 | The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire by William Dalrymple | Buy now |
| 9 | The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru | Buy now |
| 10 | Why I am an Atheist by Bhagat Singh | Buy now |
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Disclosure: All our recommendations are honest; most importantly, some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something we recommend.
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