This historically significant text has been referred to for over sixty years as an indispensable body of knowledge for the understanding of the dynamics of Indian nationalism. This book presents a comprehensive study of the transformation of Indian society through a century and a half and the resultant rise of Indian nationalism in various forms—social, cultural, religious, economic and political. It gives a historical, synthetic and systematic account of the genesis of Indian nationalism.

Employing the method of historical materialism to an analysis of Indian history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the author has been able to single out and assess various forces that have contributed to the massiveness of nationalistic influence. This is virtually the only book that provides such a comprehensive and systematic account of the genesis of Indian nationalism and national consciousness. It has justly earned itself a valuable place in sociological literature.