Subhas Chandra Bose: A Biography [Paperback]

Marshall J. Getz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786412658 | ISBN-13: 978-0786412655 | Publication Date: April 2002

Subhas Chandra Bose continues to be a well-known figure in India more than fifty years after his death, but in the West remains a shadowy figure unknown to many. He made headlines worldwide as the extremist leader of the Provisional Government of Free India after its establishment by the Axis powers during World War II and was viewed as sort of an Asian Hitler or Quisling, but when the Allies crushed Bose's Indian National army, the world seemed quickly to forget him.

This work is a biography of Bose, the self-proclaimed Netaji, or "revered leader," who sought to bring down the British Raj by making alliances with Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo during World War II and by helping India thrive economically and politically as a free socialist nation. It details his political activities, including radio broadcasts in which he attempted to sway his countrymen with pro–Axis propaganda and predicted a bloody end to imperialism at the hands of Axis powers, and his commanding of two liberation armies, one under Nazi authority and the other under Tokyo's auspices, made up of rehabilitated and coerced prisoners of war. Bose is noted for having unified his country's multiethnic population and enlisting the support of Indians overseas, all the while incurring the wrath of the Allies, who crushed his armies and his hopes of transforming India into a socialist nation. A discussion of his mysterious death in a plane crash while en route to an unknown location in 1945 concludes the book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marshall J. Getz, formerly a teacher and head of the history department at a school in Hong Kong, lives in Houston, Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 169 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786412658
• ISBN-13: 978-0786412655
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,925,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Controversial Wartime Indian Leader Emerges from the Mist, May 11, 2003

By 

Arnold Krammer (College Station, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subhas Chandra Bose: A Biography (Paperback)

The difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist is only a question of perspective. The history of most countries begin with revolutions or wars of unification which are led by people considered heroes by one side and traitors and scoundrels by the other. Such a man was Indias Subhas Chandra Bose. While the British were fighting for their lives against the Nazis and the Japanese, Bose exploited Britains vulnerability in colonial India by declaring himself Netaji (or revered leader) and allying with Britains enemies, Germany and Japan. He raised two liberation armies, each under the authority of Tokyo or Berlin, and with their help proclaimed the socialist Provisional Government of Free India. He visited Hitler and made radio broadcasts of pro-Axis speeches. At the same time it must be admitted that Bose helped to unify his nations multiethnic population, and perhaps even jump-started the beginning of independence from British imperialism. He was a shadowy figure, generally overlooked by History, whose mysterious death in a 1945 plane crash only perpetuated his elusiveness over the years.

No longer. Getzs outstanding biography of Subhas Chandra Bose analyses this unique figure in Indian history and the history of World War II. Accurate, engaging, and written with the excitement of a fascinated historian, Marshall Getz has followed the trail of events and examines this self-proclaimed Revered Leader of Free India whose actions are still lauded by some Indians, although, in the eyes of the Allies, Bose was treasonous and collaborated with the enemy. It is balanced and objectively written, and any sense of bias reveals more about the readers perspective than the authors.

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Distortion of History, November 22, 2002

By 

"krishna2" (VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Subhas Chandra Bose: A Biography (Paperback)

Not worth reading, as the author seems to add his opinions
cleverly weaving imaginary history instead of factual reporting.
Pedagogical and patronizing as some of the western authors
are Mr. Getz went on to belittle Indian aspirations for freedom
and the struggle. It should be remembered here that
George Washington did what Mr Bose did a couple of centuries
later indidentally against the same enemy, .i.e British. How
would he like if the father of his nation is considered a
small fry by history books the world over.

Madhav

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars False History written by a friend of the British Imperialsm, January 12, 2010

By 

Dipak Basu (Nagasaki, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subhas Chandra Bose: A Biography (Paperback)

The author is repeating what the British spy George Orwell used to broadcast regularly from the BBC( British Broadcasting Corporation) during the 2nd World War against Subhas Bose, the Hero among the Indian revolutionaries. Of course the British would hate him, as he was the enemy of the British imperialists who had subjugated India, but Indians love him. Every Indian city has his statue and main roads of the major cities are named after him. Thus, the British imperialists would try to malign his name ; it is natural. Getz, The author is one of those who supports the British imperialists.

Bose was not a Facist or Nazi, but a Socialist. He went to Stalin for help to organize the anti-British front, then ended up in Japan along with Sukarno( the first president of Indonesia), Aung San( the freedom fighter from Burma and the father of Sue Kei San), and revolutionary leaders from Malay, Vietnam, Phillipines, and across Asia.

He has formed Free India Government in Exile in Singapore, in 1942, recognized by the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Imperial China, Japan, among others. He has maintained close collaboration with Molotov, the then the Soviet foreign minister and Jacob Malik, the then Soviet ambassador to Japan. His army Azad Hind Fauz was formed mainly out of the Indians living in South East Asia and some Indian soldiers in the hand of the Japanese Imperial Army, but it had raised Indian flag on any areas it had liberated during the War.

The author Getz has selectively quoted events and lectures without giving the background and rejected all evidences that Bose was the leader of the leftists among the Indian freedom fighter. Thus, this book is just one of the pro-British propaganda.