Veer Savarkar was the first man who called the mutiny of 1857 ‘A War of Independence’. Until his time, no Indian had dared to say so. The martyrs of 1857 are really fortunate that they got such a historian to tell their history who himself was both a historian and a creator of history. At times, we visualise Veer Savarkar coloured in the red colour of that revolution, as if he himself was present on the battlefield and participated in the heroic war. At other times, we see him patiently analyse the strengths and weaknesses of both sides—why the mutineers lost and why the British won. The way he analyses the politico-military aspects of the revolution shows his wisdom as a youth of 26 years.
The Indian War of Independence, 1857, is a step by step account of the uprising of Indian Hindus and Muslims against the ruthless British rulers. Tracing footsteps of the barefooted, undernourished and almost unarmed Indian masses challenging the British bullets by the sheer force of their will power, the author establishes beyond an iota of doubt that the uprising was a War of Independence and not a mere Sepoy Mutiny as dubbed by the British.
Some glaring truths about this book:
• This book became the Bible for Indian revolutionaries.
• The book was proscribed by the British Government before its publication.
• The book was smuggled into India and England after it was published in Holland.
• The demand for this book was so enormous that it used to be sold and resold at the stupendous price of Rs. 300 (in 1910).