Read Of The Week (Nov 20 to Nov 26)

The Last Heroes celebrates little-known fighters from India’s freedom struggle. The book tracks the role of ordinary, everyday people in achieving Independence — farmers, labourers, homemakers, forest produce gatherers, artisans and others who stood up to the British. These people never went on to be ministers, governors, or presidents.

The Last Heroes is a book that helps them tell their stories, giving them the recognition they truly deserve, but were never granted.

It shows that independence was not the gift of a handful of Oxbridge elites.

And does so by revealing the spectacular diversity of these foot soldiers who fought the great battles of freedom — Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus; OBCs, Brahmins; men, women and children, believers and atheists. They came from different regions, from diverse political streams, and spoke different languages, but stood up together against colonial rule.

Palagummi Sainath is the founder-editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI).

He has been a journalist and reporter for 42 years, covering rural India full-time for 30 of those. Sainath has won over 60 national and international reporting awards and fellowships.