WRITER REBEL SOLDIER LOVER

An outstanding literary biography AMITAV GHOSHMukul writes beautifully and brings to life a man who has often been misunderstood BENJAMIN MOSERThis book is a remarkable contribution to the world of Indian letters: ANNIE ZAIDISachchidanand Hirananda Vatsyayan ''Agyeya'' is unarguably one of the most remarkable figures of Indian literature. From his revolutionary youth to acquiring the mantle of a (highly controversial) patron saint of Hindi literature Agyeya''s turbulent life also tells a history of the Hindi literary world and of a new nation-spanning as it does two world wars Independence and Partition and the building and fraying of the Nehruvian state.Akshaya Mukul''s comprehensive and unflinching biography is a journey into Agyeya''s public private and secret lives. Based on never-seen-before archival material-including a mammoth trove of private papers documents of the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom and colonial records of his years in jail-the book delves deep into the life of the nonconformist poet-novelist. Mukul reveals Agyeya''s revolutionary life and bomb-making skills his CIA connection a secret lover his intense relationship with a first cousin the trajectory of his political positions from following M.N. Roy to exploring issues dear to the Hindu right and much more. Along the way we get a rare peek into the factionalism and pettiness of the Hindi literary world of the twentieth century and the wondrous and grand debates which characterized that milieu.Writer Rebel Soldier Lover features a formidable cast of characters: from writers like Premchand Phanishwarnath Renu Raja Rao Mulk Raj Anand and Josephine Miles to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad and actor Balraj Sahni. And its landscapes stretch from British jails an intellectually robust Allahabad and modern-day Delhi to monasteries in Europe the homes of Agyeya''s friends in the Himalayas and universities inthe US. This book is a magnificent examination of Agyeya''s civilizational enterprise.Ambitious and scholarly Writer Rebel Soldier Lover is also an unputdownable whirlwind of a read.