Famous freedom fighters like Subhas Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and many more live in people’s hearts, even after so much time has passed. One such freedom fighter was Veer Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Here, we will go through 10 books to read to know more about Bhagat Singh.
Being a political student myself, I love reading and learning more about the Indian freedom struggle, especially for great leaders like Bhagat Singh. I have read several books, essays, letters (published), and articles written by Bhagat Singh himself, and it just gives me goosebumps, especially as I am a proud Indian myself. Even though I’m not a big fan of violence, his actions and ways made sense to me and positively impacted millions.
Bhagat Singh was one of the ‘Garam Dal’ leaders or the radicals or the extremists. He condemned the ‘Gandhian’ way of retaliating and focused on using violence as a tool to drive away from the British. Several literary pieces written by and about him provide insight into who he was. The texts that he has written are mainly from when he was in jail, waiting for the court to order his execution. It is believed that he used to write a lot in India as he wanted the people to read and know about his thoughts and views about an independent India.
Bhagat Singh was such a hero whose story inspires today’s youth, not just from India but worldwide. Let us look into the following books to know more about him.
10 Such Books That Will Help Us Know Bhagat Singh
A list of books by and about the late and great Shaheed Bhagat Singh that will introduce the real him to us are as follows.
“They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body, but they will not be able to crush my spirit”
Shaheed Bhagat Singh
1. Understanding Bhagat Singh
Full Title: Understanding Bhagat Singh
Author: Chaman Lal
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 2013
Description:
This book gives us insight into such information about Bhagat Singh that is hidden from the public eye. This book contains several articles written by the author himself, an authority of Bhagat Singh. Many facts, insights, information, steps, and movements are described in this one book that not many are aware of.
2. Bhagat Singh- The Eternal Rebel
Full Title: Bhagat Singh- The Eternal Rebel
Author: Malwinder Jit Singh
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 2007
Description:
This is a pure biographical sketch about the late great freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh. It describes the aura he held while walking the gallows, how he did everything to the extreme, and how fearless he was of death.
Being an atheist, the martyrs of the freedom struggle were the ones he worshipped. He holds a significant role in awakening India against the British Raj.
3. No Hanging, Please Shoot us
Full Title: No Hanging, Please Shoot Us
Author: Bhagat Singh
Genre: Autobiography
Publishing Date: 2019
Description:
This book contains some of the essential writings, letters, and text pieces by Shaheed Bhagat Singh. It includes the red pamphlets that used to be thrown inside the central Assembly Hall, a letter he wrote explaining his point of view about the sentence to the higher authorities, and many more. It gives real insights into the time.
4. Yugdrashta Bhagat Singh
Full Title: Yugdrashta Bhagat Singh
Author: Virendra Sindhu
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 2013
Description:
This book is an accurate biography of the great Shaheed Bhagat Singh. His character has been described and discussed in detail, including information about his family and personal life. Not only this, but Bhagat Singh’s personality, ways, and methods have been described, which will fill our hearts with even more love and respect for him.
5. A Revolutionary History of Interwar India
Full Title: A Revolutionary History of Interwar India: Violence, Image, Voice, and Text
Author: Kama Maclean
Genre: History
Publishing Date: 2013
Description:
This book put forward a fresh perspective and point of view about the ideologies, ambitions, and practices of HSRA, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army, formed by Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekar Azad. This text can be seen as a new interpretation of the radical way of protests advocated by several north Indian revolutionaries.
6. Jail Diary of Bhagat Singh
Full Title: Jail Diaries and Other Writings
Author: Bhagat Singh
Genre: Politics
Publishing Date: 1931
Description:
As the title suggests, this is Bhagat Singh’s diary that he wrote while in imprisonment. He wrote it in the last two years of his imprisonment. He wrote his thoughts and beliefs about various topics like his vision and love for farmers, labourers, the rich and the poor, and humanity. After his execution, his diary and other written works were handed to his father, who further passed it on to his other son, and so on; the diary was passed on for generations before it was published.
7. Why I Am an Atheist
Full Title: Why I Am an Atheist
Author: Bhagat Singh
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 1931
Description:
Bhagat Singh wrote this piece while he was in jail to answer his friends, who began to believe that he became an atheist due to vanity and sorrow. He writes that being an atheist has nothing to do with his circumstances and that he grew up as a religious boy in a firm believer family. Still, he chose to be an atheist, and the reason is mentioned here.
8. The Execution of Bhagat Singh
Full Title: The Execution of Bhagat Singh: Legal Heresies of the Raj
Author: Satvinder Singh Juss
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 2020
Description:
This book talks about the reasons and ‘legalities’ related to Bhagat Singh’s execution. He was sentenced to death by the court at the age of 23 for murder charges. He was responsible for championing the Marxist or radical way of fighting back against British rule. It is argued that had he been alive for a more extended period, the history of Indian Independence would be completely different.
9. Without Fear
Full Title: Without Fear: The Life and Trial of Bhagat Singh
Author: Kuldip Nayyar
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 2007
Description:
Bhagat Singh rose at the time when Mahatma Gandhi was practising his non-violent ways of protest, but people were starting to get impatient. Bhagat Singh was never a moderate freedom fighter and was known for his radical forms of protest. This book gives voice and justification to Bhagat Singh’s violent ways, which other leaders opposed.
10. Inquilab
Full Title: Inquilab: Bhagat Singh on Religion and Revolution
Author: Asif Currimbhoy
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 2018
Description:
Indeed, Bhagat Singh was an extraordinarily courageous freedom fighter, but what we don’t acknowledge much is his role as an intellectual and a thinker. Much is talked about his role in the freedom struggle but significantly less about his vision of a free India and how he wanted it to be. This book provides insight into how Bhagat Singh envisioned free India through some of his seminal pluralist and democratic works.
Final Words
Bhagat Singh, in my opinion, was one of the most abled and talented leaders out there at the time of struggle. Had there been more leaders like him out there, it’s positive that India would’ve had an even more glorious history.
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