Nirode K. Barooah brings to light the astounding career and politics of Virendranath Chattopadyaya, a heroic revolutionary leader, elder brother of Sarojini Naidu, and close associate of Jawaharlal Nehru, who continues to live on in popular memory. Barooah painstakingly delves into a rather voluminous array of archives ranging from the political archives of the German Foreign Office in Bonn to local Indian records and archives to uncover the details of this
interesting life. Written in an extremely readable and accessible manner, the book explores Chatto's family history and his entry into revolutionary politics, and then plunges into an extremely evocative account of his propoganda against the British in India in the foreign press, and his political activities
in Europe. In the late 1920s, as Secretary of the League Against Imperialism, he played a key role in radicalising Jawahalal Nehru. He lived as a social scientist and university teacher in Soviet Union till 1937 when he was executed in one of Stalin's mass purges. This revealing account provides a stunning new perspective to the revolutionary nationalist activities in India.