The Indian national movement was never a monolith.Millions participated in it; there were many important streams and personalities that shaped it. Most accounts are dominated by Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and Ambedkar, and a standard set of events – the Government of India acts, the Round Tables and the mass agitations. But what becomes invisible in these retellings are actual people whose lives were indelibly changed by this great struggle and who left their stamp on it in their own ways. This brilliant book, by the critically acclaimed historian T.C.A. Raghavan, is an ambitious attempt to tell the story of the freedom movement through five such characters.

At the centre is Asaf Ali, who figured in several of the movement’s seminal moments and whose perspective exemplifies many of the core ideas of the struggle that we still contend with today. Asaf ’s story illustrates the predicament of the moderate Muslim in the national movement – viewed with suspicion by many in the Congress and as a renegade by many in his own community.His controversial marriage to the firebrand Aruna Asaf Ali brought to the fore not only questions about Hindu–Muslim relationships but also the discussion on whether the path to change should be constitutional or revolutionary.

Sarojini Naidu was pre-eminent in this circle, her vibrant personality, her passionate championing of Hindu–Muslim unity made her one of the earliest standard-bearers of the national movement. Syud Hossain and Syed Mahmud – the journalist and the politician – complete the circle. Through the eyes of Asaf and his friends we get a different perspective of events, not a ringside view but a view just beyond the ring. Written with empathy and deep insight, this is sure to become a classic.