Bibliophiles, add ‘India’s First Radicals’ to your personal library
Written by Rosinka Chaudhuri, the book offers a sneak peek into Bengal’s history during the British era
Published 19.02.25, 10:59 AM
Image courtesy: @amit_chaudhuri/Instagram
It’s time to add a new book to your 2025 reading list.
Rosinka Chaudhuri’s book, India’s First Radical, sheds light on an
important chapter of Indian and Bengal history — Young Bengal and the British
Empire. Rosinka is a professor at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences,
Calcutta (CSSSC). The book offers a compelling narrative that has been endorsed
by author Amit Chaudhuri.
Penguin Random House India, the publisher, has described the
book as: “In 1831, the editor of the India Gazette wrote a report about a group
he called the ‘Radicals’, ‘Ultra-Reformers’ or ‘the Ultras’, who were
responsible for an unprecedented upheaval in social, religious and political
thinking centred in Calcutta. Later named ‘Young Bengal’, these students of
Henry Derozio at the Hindu College had embarked upon a collision course with
orthodoxy and authority, generating scandal and sensation in equal measure” —
giving a brief introduction to the book.
Grab your copy here.
— My Kolkata Web Desk
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