Chatto : the life and times of an Indian anti-imperialist in Europe

Chatto is an evocative account of the astounding career and politics of Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, an heroic revolutionary leader. Based on meticulous research, it brings to light his propaganda against the British in India in the foreign press and his political activities in Europe, and provides a stunning new perspective to the revolutionary nationalist activities in India. Biography of Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, 1880-1947, Indian nationalist, his political activities in Germany and contribution to Indian freedom movement. "This book describes the life and career of Virendranath Chattopadyaya (1880-1937), a major revolutionary and early internationalist working abroad for India's struggle against British imperialism. Brother of Sarojini Naidu and close associate of Jawaharlal Nehru, Chattopadyaya, more famously known as Chatto, spent most of his life in Europe. For the last few years of his life he lived in the Soviet Union as a social scientist and university teacher until he was executed in 1937 in one of Stalin's mass purges." "This political biography explores Chatto's family history and details his political activities in Europe including his propaganda against the British in India in the foreign press. It chronicles his intense involvement with anti-British and anti-imperialist forces in Europe such as the German Foreign Office, the 1917 Stockholm peace initiatives of the Socialist International, the Bolsheviks, the League Against Imperialism, and the Communist International. The volume also dwells on Chatto's vision of a more realistic Marxism regarding the social and economic conditions of the Indian sub-continent." "This work includes interviews with Chatto's co-workers and contemporaries. There is also extensive use of translations from several European languages of original material preserved in the archives and private paper collections in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Russia, USA, Britain, and India. These reveal new facts that explode myths and misconceptions based on hearsay, thus providing a new perspective on revolutionary nationalist activities in India."--Jacket