Among other insights, the collection illustrates the fact that the dividing line between progressive and reactionary thought in Indian social movements is often dangerously thin. There is a whiff of saffron in some chapters, and conservative Gandhism ("a reactionary creed blazoning on its banner the call of Return to Antiquity", as Ambedkar put it) also rears its ugly head. However, this doesn’t detract from the book’s value as an original survey of pre-independence social movements in all their diversity and colour.

The editorial standards, though, leave much to be desired with spelling and grammatical errors even in the summary and preface. Some parts read like a cut-and-paste job from earlier publications of the contributors. There’s no index, no publication date and no apparent logic in the chapter sequencing. Still, it’s worth reading in spite of these flaws.