Among the flood of writings on the stalwarts of the Indian independence movement, one book brings this epic era into a sharper, more comprehensive conversation with anarchism than previously assumed by historians. Quoting a staggering range of archival material, private correspondence and other primary sources, Anarchy or Chaos: MPT Acharya and the Indian Struggle for Freedom (Penguin Random House India), offers rare and fresh insights. Written by Ole Birk Laursen, researcher, department of history, Lund University, it amply makes evident that Acharya’s alliance with anarchism charted a pioneering course in the battle for independence.  

Deftly mapping the transition of Acharya (1887-1954), the country’s leading anti-colonial anarchist, this diligently documented, fascinatingly paced biography breaks ground, chronicling in vivid detail the peripatetic journeys of likeminded revolutionaries during a poorly known period of vital Indian history. A good part of that untrodden turf was rooted in Bombay and Sections IV to V of Laursen’s book shine clear light on Acharya’s latter years in this city.