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Savarkar Vol 1 (Part 1)

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Savarkar Vol 1 (Part 1)

By: Vikram Sampath
Narrated by: Pratik Sharma
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About this listen

 As the intellectual fountainhead of the ideology of Hindutva, which is in political ascendancy in India today, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is undoubtedly one of the most contentious political thinkers and leaders of the twentieth century. Accounts of his eventful and stormy life have oscillated from eulogizing hagiographies to disparaging demonization. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between and has unfortunately never been brought to light. Savarkar and his ideology stood as one of the strongest and most virulent opponents of Gandhi, his pacifist philosophy and the Indian National Congress.
An alleged atheist and a staunch rationalist who opposed orthodox Hindu beliefs, encouraged inter-caste marriage and dining, and dismissed cow worship as mere superstition, Savarkar was, arguably, the most vocal political voice for the Hindu community through the entire course of India's freedom struggle. From the heady days of revolution and generating international support for the cause of India's freedom as a law student in London, Savarkar found himself arrested, unfairly tried for sedition, transported and incarcerated at the Cellular Jail, in the Andamans, for over a decade, where he underwent unimaginable torture.
From being an optimistic advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity in his treatise on the 1857 War of Independence, what was it that transformed him in the Cellular Jail to a proponent of 'Hindutva', which viewed Muslims with suspicion?
Drawing from a vast range of original archival documents across India and abroad, this biography in two parts-the first focusing on the years leading up to his incarceration and eventual release from the Kalapani-puts Savarkar, his life and philosophy in a new perspective and looks at the man with all his achievements and failings. Freedom & Security Hinduism Historical Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government

Critic Reviews

The first serious biography of Savarkar in English, this book allows us to understand a man whose ideas have come to define contemporary India. (Faisal Devji, Professor of Indian History, University of Oxford)

A gripping narrative . . . We get a rich portrait of Savarkar as a poet and writer as well as a political activist and theorist (Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of History, Harvard University)

Vikram Sampath has written the finest biography . . . This will restore the right balance to the story of one of the revolutionaries of modern India. (Meghnad Desai, Eminent author and columnist, Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics)

Read it, not just to understand Savarkar, but also to understand the emergence of modern India. (Sanjeev Sanyal, Best-selling author & Principal Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Government of India)

Vikram's writing skills and his penchant for description, especially of the inhuman torture that the prisoners had to undergo . . . make the text both heart-wrenching as also very readable (Tathagata Roy, Governor of Meghalaya)

Vikram Sampath's brilliant biography demystifies the man, the thinker and the leader. Far from being a hagiography, the book is essential reading for all those interested in contemporary India and the rise of Hindutva (Amitabh Mattoo, Professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Vikram Sampath has done extraordinary research into Savarkar's life and history (T.V. Mohandas Pai, chairman, Manipal Global Education)
All stars
Most relevant
The author has done a stellar job of portraying the life of Veer Savarkar, up to his shipment to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands.

The audiobook grips you from the very beginning and won’t even let go of you at the end; for you need to pick up a copy of the sequel that cover the latter part of Savarkar’s life.

Riveting

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The author has chosen Savarkar as a PoV character to present to us the role of India House, HRA and many other concurrent nationalist movements in India's Independence struggle. To call it a must read will be an understatement. A modern day Shaastra compiled by someone who can be considered as thorough as Vishvamitra.. Throw this book on a communist and you will hurt him/her but Read this book to them and you will Exorcise their Red soul using facts and not hymns 😁

Myth busting Blockbuster

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We definitely need more books like these to highlight our forgotten heroes. Because of its length and the sheer number of characters it’s a bit hard to follow if you aren’t paying close attention, but other than that, an absolute must-listen.

Enlightening

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