Between his resignation as Congress President in Calcutta on 29 April 1939 and his escape from his Elgin Road home on the night of 16-17 January 1941, Subbas Chandra Bose provided India with an alternative leadership in place of the old guard represented by the Gandhian High Command. His altemative was based on a commitment to anti-imperialism and future socialism. This volume brings together the writings and speeches of a crucial phase in Bose's political life immediately prior to his emergence as the Netaji of lndia's army of liberation. The themes dealt with here include the role of the left within the Indian independence movement, the Second World War as a conflict between rival imperialisms and the need for Hindu–Muslim unity and Congress–Muslim League understanding.