A remarkable addition to the rich reminiscence literature by Indian nationalist revolutionaries, Kali Ghoshs autobiography, written in the 1930s, offers a sensitive portrayal of the transformation of a village boy in Bengal into an activist of the Jugantar Party. Particularly striking is the account of the everyday life and mental world of a budding revolutionary. Ghoshs description of police interrogation and life in prison as well as his candid recounting of the circumstances leading to his deportation to Britain offer a rare glimpse into political life in the closing years of British rule in India.
— Partha Chatterjee, Professor, Anthropology and South Asian Studies,
Columbia University, New York
Many Bengal revolutionaries left behind their personal testimonies but I strongly feel that none is as captivating as the one by Kali Ghosh: a relatively unknown political figure, who was forced to leave the turbulence of the Bengal political landscape fairly early and who was deported to England where he developed a serious interest in Marxism and in leftist politics. The autobiography stands out for several reasons: for combining the personal and the political with a frankness that is unusual in political autobiographies, for depicting political and intellectual lives in remote East Bengal villages and small towns as well as in Calcutta with admirable sociological acumen, and, above all, for telling a really good story. The moving personal note by his Swedish grandson and an excellent foreword by
Gunnel Cederlöf add considerably to the value of this intriguing and most readable narrative.
— Tanika Sarkar, Professor, Modern History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi