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. 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. Students of postcolonial studies, history, ethnic studies, colonial history, and journalism will greatly benefit from reading this book.
Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Problem 3. First Round Table Conference 4. The Conference at Work 5. Second Round Table Conference 6. With Mr. Gandhi 7. The Conference Ends 8. Experiment in Journalism 9. Third Round Table Conference 10. Joint Parliamentary Committee 11. In India 12. Mr. Gandhi Again 13. India at Work 14. Congress Meets in Bombay 15. India at the Polls 16. Plaintiffs and Defendants 17. A Fresh Attempt 18. The Women of India 19. Youth 20. The Peasant 21. The Industrial Worker 22. The Press 23. The Cinema 24. The Radio 25. The British in India 26. The "Foreigner" in India 27. Legislators of the Future 28. The Future Index
Biography
Margarita Barns
