<div class="woocommerce-Tabs-panel woocommerce-Tabs-panel--description panel entry-content wc-tab" id="tab-description" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tab-title-description" style="counter-reset: footnotes 0; padding: 20px; border-color: hsl(var(--neutral-3)); border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; color: rgb(72, 79, 86); font-family: Poppins; font-size: 15px;"><div class="rey-prodDescToggle u-toggle-text-next-btn --expanded" style="--height: 380px; --margin-bottom: 1em; position: relative; margin-bottom: var(--margin-bottom); max-height: none; overflow: visible;"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem;">Few societies in the 19th and early 20th centuries remained untouched by the radical new idea of liberty, which implied both individual freedom and freedom from despotic rule. The leaders of India’s anti-colonial struggle, in making the concept their own, expanded its purview. But this definition of freedom, understood as socio-economic justice, was found to be fundamentally at odds with its narrower meaning during the debates in the Constituent Assembly.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem;">As Professor John Harriss shows in this book, a fierce battle has thus played out ever since the setting up of the Republic between what are referred to as&nbsp;<em>negative</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>positive</em>&nbsp;freedoms, or, broadly, the guarantees of the Fundamental Rights, and the goals of the Directive Principles of State Policy. The contest has often been one between a judiciary adhering to the Constitution and a Parliament pursuing what Nehru called ‘real freedom’ for the masses. Several Constitutional amendments—the 1st of 1951, the 24th and 25th of 1971, the 42nd of 1976—ended up placing restrictions on individual freedoms as much as they pushed the agenda of social reform. Much worse happened, however, in the name of national security, like the 16th Amendment of 1963, which brought about the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act four years later. With the curbing of our individual liberties and leaden steps, at best, towards reform under successive governments, the central constitutional aim of liberty is still a long way off.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0px;">This monograph lucidly explains the difficult relationship between the Constitution and the Parliament, a relationship that must be clearly understood if we are ever to strike the right balance between the freedom of the individual and ‘real freedom’, as dreamt of by those who founded the Indian republic.</p></div><button class="btn btn-line-active" aria-label="Toggle" style="border-radius: var(--btn-br,0); line-height: var(--btn-lh,1); font-size: var(--btn-font-size,15px); display: var(--btn-dsp,inline-flex); align-items: center; justify-content: center; font-weight: var(--btn-fw,600); color: var(--btn-color,var(--link-color)); border: var(--btn-bd-w,0) var(--btn-bs-s,solid) var(--btn-bd-c,transparent); padding: var(--btn-padding,0); transition-property: var(--btn-trp,color,background-color,border-color,opacity); position: relative; text-transform: var(--btn-ttr,initial); letter-spacing: var(--btn-lts,initial); text-decoration: var(--btn-td,none); --btn-line-tr: scaleX(1); --btn-ttr: uppercase; --btn-color: currentColor; --btn-padding: 0 0 5px; --btn-font-size: .8125rem;"><span data-read-more="Read more" data-read-less="Less"></span></button></div>

<div class="woocommerce-Tabs-panel woocommerce-Tabs-panel--description panel entry-content wc-tab" id="tab-description" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tab-title-description" style="counter-reset: footnotes 0; padding: 20px; border-color: hsl(var(--neutral-3)); border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; color: rgb(72, 79, 86); font-family: Poppins; font-size: 15px;"><div class="rey-prodDescToggle u-toggle-text-next-btn --expanded" style="--height: 380px; --margin-bottom: 1em; position: relative; margin-bottom: var(--margin-bottom); max-height: none; overflow: visible;"><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem;"><em>Those who led our struggle for freedom had a vision for India, which we need to recall today more than ever before. Rakesh Batabyal has rendered us an immense and timely service by assembling the writings of more than thirty of the nation’s visionaries. We all need to learn from this collection and protect our precious democratic and egalitarian inheritance from the narrow-mindedness that seems increasingly to overwhelm our country.</em>‘—<span style="font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold);">Irfan Habib</span>, Professor Emeritus, Aligarh Muslim University</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem;">‘<em>This is a book as much about what we might call India’s immediate past—the self-reflections involved in the national movement for independence—as about our present political culture. We learn not just from the wisdom of our ancient past, but also from the founding insights of our immediate past, and the speeches in this collection, reflecting on the desired freedom for the nation, are brilliant reminders of that vision for political thinking today.</em>‘—<span style="font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold);">Mrinal Miri</span>, eminent philosopher and former Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem;">‘<em>An excellent selection of speeches which faithfully reflects the grandeur of the social, cultural, political and intellectual Renaissance that built a free India. From Dadabhai Naoroji to Tagore, Gandhiji to Ambedkar and Nehru to Subhas Bose, all the stars in the nation’s galaxy shine bright in this must-read volume.</em>‘—<span style="font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold);">Mridula Mukherjee</span>, former Professor of Modern Indian History and former Director, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem;">The new public sphere that emerged in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century India was a space that enabled magnificent public oratory, particularly that which mounted a challenge to colonial rule. From social and political platforms like the Indian National Congress, or in the courts of law, or inside legislative bodies, leaders of the freedom struggle gave eloquent and clear-eyed articulations of not only the social, economic and political problems that faced India and their possible solutions, but also the kind of sovereign nation we must collectively aspire to be. India’s democratic ethos was a product of these foundational ideas of the freedom movement.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.25rem;">As the movement progressed—from the economic critique of colonial rule by the early nationalists, to the unequivocal demand for Purna Swaraj and the immense moral authority of the Mahatma Gandhi-led resistance—the notion of an equal society that ensured dignity to all—irrespective of caste, class, gender or religion—came to occupy a central place in it. By the time the Constituent Assembly met in December 1946, not just civil rights, but the particular rights of women, of minorities, of the Depressed Classes and the Adivasis were being articulated and demanded, not as favours but as a matter of course. As the editor of this volume writes in his brilliant introduction, the effect of the speeches delivered by the leaders of our national movement was to focus ‘political action towards scripting an ennobling nationalism that would give us a just and equal society’.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0px;"><em>Building a Free India</em>&nbsp;brings together these landmark speeches delivered over roughly a century by the leading lights of the national movement—from Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee, Bhikaiji Cama, Lajpat Rai and Tilak, to Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Bose, Sarojini Naidu and Maulana Azad—as well as a range of lesser-known but equally remarkable figures. This unprecedented collection is not only an invaluable history of our freedom movement but also of the ideas of universal equality, dignity and justice that are—and must always remain—at the root of our democracy.</p></div><button class="btn btn-line-active" aria-label="Toggle" style="border-radius: var(--btn-br,0); line-height: var(--btn-lh,1); font-size: var(--btn-font-size,15px); display: var(--btn-dsp,inline-flex); align-items: center; justify-content: center; font-weight: var(--btn-fw,600); color: var(--btn-color,var(--link-color)); border: var(--btn-bd-w,0) var(--btn-bs-s,solid) var(--btn-bd-c,transparent); padding: var(--btn-padding,0); transition-property: var(--btn-trp,color,background-color,border-color,opacity); position: relative; text-transform: var(--btn-ttr,initial); letter-spacing: var(--btn-lts,initial); text-decoration: var(--btn-td,none); --btn-line-tr: scaleX(1); --btn-ttr: uppercase; --btn-color: currentColor; --btn-padding: 0 0 5px; --btn-font-size: .8125rem;"><span data-read-more="Read more" data-read-less="Less"></span></button></div>

<p><span style="color: rgb(43, 43, 42); font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 13px;">Late nineteenth century. Britain, the undisputed master of the Indian subcontinent, looks to control a rebellious multitude. They deem thuggery a hereditary defect, of those considered ‘born criminals’. Over two hundred communities across India are labelled as ‘Criminal Tribes’. They are forced into wired settlements, heavily monitored and subjected to humiliation. Post-independence, they are rechristened as Denotified Tribes. But the oppression continues. Identifying themselves as Vimukta or the liberated, the tribes that were imprisoned for generations have defiantly storied their freedom. This anthology, for the first time, collects their testimonies and the novel invocations of the Vimukta struggl</span><br></p>

<p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Independent India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his team faced the colossal task of building the infrastructure for a new state that was rising from the ashes of war, famine and communal strife. One of the first administrative innovations was the formation of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). In 1958, once its posts were finally filled, it was decided that the names of the extraordinary men and women who were the first to represent Indian on the world stage would be published as the&nbsp;<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">History of Services of Officers of the Indian Foreign Service (Branches A and B)</em>. That slim, ‘restricted – for official use only’ volume is the inspiration for&nbsp;<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Nehru’s First Recruits</em>.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;">Among others, author Kallol Bhattacherjee writes about Brajesh Mishra, who initiated dialogue with Beijing to restart relations disrupted in 1962; Mira Ishardas Malik, the first Indian woman diplomat to serve in China; Eric Gonsalves, who handled the biggest ever evacuation of Indians from a foreign crisis; K. Natwar Singh and Romesh Bhandari, who served for many years even after retiring from the IFS; Cyril John Stracey, who served with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose; Harivansh Rai Bachchan, who was responsible for the name ‘Videsh Mantralaya’; and Mirza Rashid Ali Baig, M.A. Jinnah’s former private secretary who became a towering chief of protocol whose legacy resonates in South Block even today.</p><p></p><div class="other-info" style="margin: 25px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;"></div><p></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Through the stories and experiences of India’s earliest diplomats, this book, for the first time, presents the foundational history of the country’s diplomatic corps and indeed the beginning of the country’s engagement in global affairs.</p>

<p>Argo meets Spotlight, as New York Times bestselling author Craig Unger reveals his thirty-</p><p>year investigation into the secret collusion between Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential</p><p>campaign and Iran, raising urgent questions about what happens when foreign meddling in</p><p>our elections goes unpunished and what gets remembered when the political price for treason</p><p>is victory.</p><p>In April 1991, the New York Times ran an op-ed alleging that Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential</p><p>campaign had conspired with the Iranian government to delay the release of 52 American hostages</p><p>until after the 1980 election. The Iranian hostage crisis was President Jimmy Carter’s largest political</p><p>vulnerability, and his lack of success freeing them ultimately sealed his fate at the ballot box. In return</p><p>for keeping Americans in captivity until Reagan assumed the oath of office, the Republicans had</p><p>secretly funneled arms to Iran. Treasonous and illegal, the operation—planned and executed by</p><p>Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey—amounted to a shadow foreign policy run by private citizens</p><p>that ensured Reagan’s victory.</p><p>Investigative journalist Craig Unger was one of the first reporters covering the October Surprise—</p><p>initially for Esquire and then Newsweek—and while attempting to unravel the mystery, he was fired,</p><p>sued, and ostracized by the Washington press corps, as a counter narrative took hold: The October</p><p>Surprise was a hoax. Now Unger finally reveals the definitive story and sharing startling truths about</p><p>what really happened in 1980. The result is a real-life political thriller filled with double agents, CIA</p><p>operatives, slippery politicians, KGB documents, wealthy Republicans, and dogged journalists. Timely</p><p>and provocative, with powerful echoes of Trump-era political scandals, Den of Spies demonstrates</p><p>the stakes of allowing the politics of the moment to obscure the writing of our history.</p>

<p>A heartrending and beautiful trilingual book that gives voice to the children of war-torn Ukraine, interspersed with moving works of art.</p><p>What is it like to be a child living in a country under siege—or living in a foreign city or land far from everything you have known and loved? In this moving and unforgettable book, Ukraine’s children speak out about growing up in amid the violence, terror, and death of war. Through the Eyes of Children is a collection of children’s quotes paired with evocative color artwork. Each quote appears in Cyrillic, transliterated Ukrainian, and English, making the book a tool for both language learning and language preservation.</p><p>Each copy sold funds a week’s mental health assistance for a Ukrainian child.</p>

<p>A galvanizing history of abortion recentering people of color to put forth a timely argument that we must liberate abortion for all.</p><p>People of color have been having abortions since the dawn of time, yet our access is continuously under attack. In Liberating Abortion, award-winning abortion activist Renee Bracey Sherman and journalist Regina Mahone illustrate the long racist history that brought us to this moment, uncover the hidden figures who set the foundation activists and storytellers are building on today, and explain how abortion has been and remains essential to the health of our communities.</p><p>Liberating Abortion will take you back to the basics of sex education, detailing the traditions of abortion over centuries , while examining how society makes us feel about our experiences. You’ll find rigorous research, never-before-heard stories, and eye-opening interviews with over 50 people of color who’ve had abortions, including activists, actresses, television writers, politicians, and the two Black members of Jane, the Chicago feminist service that provided abortions before Roe.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p><p>With poignant storytelling and precise analysis, Liberating Abortion will change how you think about abortion forever.</p>

<p>The popular Washington Post contributing opinion columnist challenges readers to have uncomfortable conversations about race, drawing on the first-person perspectives of the author and Americans from diverse viewpoints and walks of life.</p><p>“The United States claims to be a nation founded on an idea,” writes Theodore R. Johnson, “but Americans—even though we nod our heads to that assertion—do not agree on what that idea is, what it should do, or who it is for.” The reality is that America is facing an existential quandary. Its citizens do not share a common vision for a democratic system in action, and even worse, do not share a common vision for what the country should be. We use the same words, but do not speak the same language.</p><p>If We Are Brave is a keen-eyed and sobering examination of this rift and how race exposes and challenges traditional conceptions of national identity, national mythology, and American democracy. It is both a cultural exploration and a consideration of the American experiment through the eyes and experiences of Americans of different generations that cuts across race, ethnicity, gender, region, religion, and class. Johnson reveals the subtle ways that racialized conceptions of the American identity and the imperfect culture of democracy have hindered our ability to connect with one another, carefully piecing together first-person accounts ranging from a Rust Belt diner to the back of a police car to a jail cell.</p><p>A beautiful but harsh indictment of a nation that aspires to be a more perfect union yet has consistently and painfully fallen short, If We Were Brave is a portrait of a nation at the precipice. It is an eye-opening, essential resource in a pivotal election year which will define America’s future, and a much-needed beacon of truth that sheds a bright light on who we are.</p>

<p>The explosive inside story of the October Surprise conspiracy, a stunning act of treason that changed American history. New York Times bestselling author Craig Unger reveals his thirty-year investigation into the secret collusion between Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign and Iran, raising urgent questions about what happens when foreign meddling in our elections goes unpunished and what gets remembered when the political price for treason is victory.&nbsp;</p><p>It was a tinderbox of an accusation. In April 1991, the New York Times ran an op-ed alleging that Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign had conspired with the Iranian government to delay the release of 52 American hostages until after the 1980 election. The Iranian hostage crisis was President Jimmy Carter’s largest political vulnerability, and his lack of success freeing them ultimately sealed his fate at the ballot box. In return for keeping Americans in captivity until Reagan assumed the oath of office, the Republicans had secretly funneled arms to Iran. Treasonous and illegal, the operation—planned and executed by Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey—amounted to a shadow foreign policy run by private citizens that ensured Reagan’s victory.</p><p>Investigative journalist Craig Unger was one of the first reporters covering the October Surprise—initially for Esquire and then Newsweek—and while attempting to unravel the mystery, he was fired, sued, and ostracized by the Washington press corps, as a counter narrative took hold: The October Surprise was a hoax. Though Unger later recovered his name and became a bestselling author on Republican abuses of power, the October Surprise remained his white whale, the project he—as well as legendary investigative journalist, the late Robert Parry—worked on late at night and between assignments.</p><p>In Den of Spies, Unger reveals the definitive story of the October Surprise, going inside his three-decade reporting odyssey, along with Parry’s never-before-seen archives, and sharing startling truths about what really happened in 1980. The result is a real-life political thriller filled with double agents, CIA operatives, slippery politicians, KGB documents, wealthy Republicans, and dogged journalists. A timely and provocative history that presages our Trump-era political scandals, Den of Spies demonstrates the stakes of allowing the politics of the moment to obscure the writing of our history.</p>