Book reviews - Dr. Nirode Kumar Barooah

Reviews

“...Dr. Barooah’s meticulous work... a 675 page book, which is several books in one and which spares no one in its extensive research and sharp analysis... is not a hagiography like books about ruling party leaders but a powerful indictment which must be read by every scholar, writer and official and politician... in the region and of the region... There is extraordinary attention to detail . The author pulls no punches in asking why Bardoloi remains under-discussed... he has without holds barred criticized some of the top intellectuals of the state and their writings, accusing them of an anti-Bardoloi bias...”

“...Barooah’s work, based on intense and assiduous research, brings out his ardent admiration for Bardoloi as a liberal democrat, a dedicated champion of Assam’s contradictions and clash of interests in the multi-ethnic society of Assam and possessing a culture of accommodation. His book has assumed a new intellectual and political relevance for the students and scholars of federal and Assamese studies. Barooah’s study is a must read for them...”

“... The book, the first full-length biographical study of Chatto, based on original documents in several European languages sourced from archives and libraries across Europe (and in India), is a gripping narrative, a truly historical reconstruction of a life in the broader context of a milieu now almost forgotten. One reads the book forwards and backwards, with delight and surprise at being reminded of a face long lost in the recesses of one’s memory. The book confirms and questions many accepted and unproven facts and assumptions about a vital part of our national history...”

“...Barooah’s book is admirably well documented and provides close details of Chatto’s perambulations over the first three decades of the 20th century. ... Barooah’s is a competent biography...”

“... Barooah’s book deals with a period when the Russian Bear had withdrawn into the background, though not exactly fallen asleep and when amid diplomatic and military stirrings other more portent diplomatic and military stirrings other more potent forces were asserting themselves on the stages of international diplomacy. ... Barooah holds and not without reason, that Kaiser and to some extent the German Foreign Office adapted an exaggerated notion of British India’s insecurity from various sources ... a host of other interesting points of study being included.”

“... Barooah’s life of Chatto, ...is enriched by painstaking research in archives spread over many countries...”

“A particularly attractive and readable piece of historical writing in pleasant and correct English style.”

“Nirode K. Barooah’s biography Chatto: The Life and Times of an Indian Anti-Imperialist in Europe (2004) is, when compared to both Koch and McMeekin, ... a refreshing contribution to the LAI’s [League Against Imperialism’s] history. Virendranath Chattophadyaya’s (Chatto; 1880-1937) life and career in the LAI, first as a national revolutionary promoting Indian independence, utilising his prominence of acting as LAI International Secretary (1928-31), and later, as a Communist, is carefully approached and examined by Barooah.

This makes Barooah’s contribution one of few which sheds some new light onto the activities of the LAI and its struggle to establish international anti-imperialist activism. The enormous amount of research presented in Barooah’s biography is impressive, an archival journey stretching back over thirty years.”