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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteScroll Staff’s February 1, 2025 reading list features six nonfiction books exploring Indian history through political reform, contested identity, student life, wartime captivity, spiritual biography and revolutionary politics. The titles are presented as a curated list, not a ranking or comparative review; Scroll says its descriptions were sourced from publishers.
Political reform and revolutionary lives
India’s First Radicals: Young Bengal and the British Empire by Rosinka Chaudhuri
Scroll’s description centers on the Young Bengal students associated with Henry Derozio at Hindu College, focusing on their activities in 1843. It says they advocated for peasant rights, challenged police and judicial corruption, raised concerns about labourers’ treatment and opposed discrimination. The roundup presents these as the book’s subjects rather than offering a comparative assessment of its historical argument.
Spies, Lies and Allies: The Extraordinary Lives of Chatto and Roy by Kavitha Rao
This book follows Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, known as Chatto, and M N Roy. According to Scroll’s summary, it traces their travels, political associations and changing ideologies, placing two revolutionary lives within wider international networks.
Awadh, Partition and contested identity
The House of Awadh: A Hidden Tragedy by Aletta André and Abhimanyu Kumar
Scroll describes the story of Begum Wilayat Mahal and her children, Princess Sakina and Prince Ali Raza, who claimed descent from the House of Awadh. The account begins with their arrival at New Delhi Railway Station in 1975, their long stay there and their later years at Malcha Mahal. It connects the family’s story to colonial injustice, Partition, identity and India–Pakistan relations.
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The family’s claim to Awadh descent is presented as uncertain in the roundup; this description does not settle it. Readers looking for a historical conclusion on that question should consult the book and other evidence rather than treat the claim as established fact.
Education and student life in Tamil Nadu
Students Etched In Memory by Perumal Murugan, translated from Tamil by Iswarya V.
Murugan’s collection is described as essays about college students from small-town Tamil Nadu. Its perspective comes from his experience as a teacher and observer, making the book a route into student lives and education through personal essays rather than a broad survey of Indian history.
Indian prisoners of war in Europe
The Great Épinal Escape: Indian Prisoners of War in German Hands by Ghee Bowman
The roundup recounts an escape by Indian prisoners of war following the bombing of Épinal on May 11, 1944. Its description reports that 67 American heavy bombers dropped 168 tons of bombs and that more than 3,000 Indian POWs were temporarily in the town. Those figures are reported by Scroll’s summary; they are not independently verified here, so they should be read as part of its account rather than as independently established statistics.
Biography and spiritual history
The Mother: A Life of Sri Aurobindo’s Spiritual Collaborator by Peter Heehs
The subject is Mirra Alfassa, later known as the Mother. Scroll’s description recounts her arrival in India in 1914 and her relationship with Sri Aurobindo. It characterizes Heehs’s biography as drawing on archival and library research in France, Israel and India.
How to choose among the six
The books approach the past at different scales, so a useful starting point is the subject that interests you most:
- Political reform and radical movements: Chaudhuri’s account of Young Bengal or Rao’s paired revolutionary biographies.
- Awadh and modern identity: André and Kumar’s account of a family whose claim to royal descent remains uncertain in the roundup.
- Education and student experience: Murugan’s essays, translated from Tamil.
- Wartime captivity and escape: Bowman’s account of Indian POWs in German hands.
- Spiritual biography: Heehs’s life of Mirra Alfassa.
Scroll published the list on February 1, 2025, and says its information came from publishers. The roundup does not establish current availability, price, format or edition details.
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