On 19 January 1941, Subhas Chandra Bose escaped in disguise from British
surveillance in Calcutta to Kabul. There, he established contact with the German
and Italian foreign ministries, thereby beginning a long period of collaboration with
the Axis Powers to counter British rule in India. This led to the setting up of the Free
India Centre, the radio station Azad Hind, and the Indian Legion—in which 4,500
Indian volunteers were trained by German experts to fight for the freedom of their
nation. While his compatriots resisted colonial rule on native soil, Bose spearheaded
the cause of freedom in Europe. Using Machiavellian tactics, he discreetly played the
Axis leaders off against each other and courted considerable public favour through his
transmissions on Radio Azad Hind.
Netaji in Europe pieces together information from official records, diaries and military
archives in Germany, Italy, Britain and India to give a comprehensive account of the
daily negotiations between Bose, and foreign offices, diplomats and double agents,
during the Second World War. These efforts resulted in a declaration of India’s
independence long before 1947, and the formation of the first Indian army. The first
work to narrate the story of Netaji in Europe, this insightful book closes an important
gap in research on Bose’s biography.