A unique 'autobiography'of one of the greatest storytellers of our times, Munshi Premchand, recreated from his works by the man regarded as 'Premchand's Boswell', Madan Gopal. Often compared to Gorky and Tolstoy, Premchand was not only a versatile writer of short stories, novels, dramas and essays, but also played an active role in the country's freedom movement. His stories took birth from the lives of the common people, their vicissitudes and deprivations, as well as their small joys and victories. Premchand rebelled against narrow religious bigotry and, in fighting it through his writing, he imbued a whole generation with the idea of a new social order of justice and equality. The author, Madan Gopal, has based his narrative on a study of almost everything of consequence written by or on Premchand in Hindi and Urdu, including numerous unpublished letters written by and to Premchand, which provide an intimate knowledge of the man, the writer, and the thinker. Madan Gopal's deep study of the writer whom he reveres has enabled him to tell the story of his life almost as the master storyteller would have told it himself. For all aficionados of Munshi Premchand, this is a book that must find a place on their shelves.

Born in 1936, Imtiaz Ahmad Sahibzada, joined the erstwhile Civil Service of Pakistan in 1959. After serving in a number of assignments in the Provincial bureaucracy of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which included that of the Chief Secretary, he was transferred to Islamabad in 1987. There he served as Secretary to the Federal Government in different ministries and superannuated in 1996 as the Cabinet Secretary. Thereafter, he went on to become a member of the Federal Public Service Commission, a member of the National Security Council, Chairman of the Federal Lands Commission, Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) of Pakistan and Advisor to the Prime Minister on Tribal Affairs. He finally retired from public service in 2008. He is the author of the Pilgrim of Beauty and A Breath of Fresh Air. The former contains translations into English of selected poems of the famous Pukhtun poet, Ghani Khan, who was Ghaffar Khan’s son. The latter is a compilation of the speeches and interventions of Ghani Khan in the Central Legislative Assembly of India, 1946. Imtiaz Ahmad had a close friendship with Abdul Ghani Khan, who is the greatest Pukhtun poet of the century, was an artist and also a Member of the Indian Legislative Assembly in 1946–47. He first met him in 1947–48 and remained closely associated with him until his death in 1996.

Progress in life has to be made on both the spiritual and mundane fronts. One has to be aware of every action in daily life from drinking tea, eating food, the way one relates with other human beings and animals, to dealing with the ecological environment. Self-development is the main goal of our life.

Turning adversity on its head he embarked upon a career in broadcasting that began in South Africa with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), before returning to Cardiff in September 1987 to anchor BBC Wales’ portfolio of prime time sports programs. By the mid-1990s Alan had gone freelance and, following the end of apartheid, was reunited with the SABC to cover South Africa’s return to world sport with the 1994 cricket tour to England and the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He also began what would become a long association with Singapore-based ESPN Star Sports (ESS) by commentating on the 1996 Indian cricket tour of England. By 1997 Alan had joined the ESS commentary team in India for the One Day International series between India and Sri Lanka where he was part of the commentary team, with Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Harsha Bhogle and Geoffrey Boycott, otherwise known as A Few Good Men. In February 2000 he re-located to Singapore to work for ESS and for almost 16 years enjoyed broadcasting cricket, golf, rugby, tennis and a host of other sports across the Indian sub-continent. A return home to Wales in 2015 has reignited Alan’s love for rugby but as you’ll read in Easier Said Than Done, his love of sport means the shape or size of the ball is not an issue.

Ian H. Magedera is senior lecturer of modern languages and cultures at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Sharmistha Gooptu is a founder and managing trustee of the South Asia Research Foundation (SARF), a not-for-profit research body based in India. SARF’s current project SAG (South Asian Gateway) is in partnership with Taylor and Francis, and involves the creation of what will be the largest South Asian digital database of historical materials. She is also the joint editor of the journal South Asian History and Culture (Routledge) and the Routledge South Asian History and Culture book series.

Harinder Baweja, an Editor with Hindustan Times has earned a reputation as a fearless, committed reporter through her prolonged coverage of conflict zones. Her experience of covering the Kashmir crisis gave her access to a wide range of sources, particularly among the army units that were sent to Kargil. She covered the sharp, short war for India Today magazine, using her enviable range of sources to compile a definite account of the Kargil war. She has also edited and authored chapters for 26/11 Mumbai Attacked.

Aruna Roy resigned from the IAS in 1975 to work with peasants and workers in rural Rajasthan. In 1990 she helped co-found the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). The MKSS struggles in the mid 90s for wages and other rights gave birth to the now celebrated Right to Information movement. Aruna continues to be a part of many democratic struggles and campaigns. This book is a collective history that tells the story of how ordinary people can come together and prevail against great odds, to make democracy more meaningful.

"Laid to Rest: The Controversy over Subhas Chandra Bose’s Death is the most comprehensive compilation of hard evidence ever presented on the still hotly-debated demise of one of the heroes of the Indian freedom movement. It pieces together a plethora of first-hand, eye-witness accounts of the plane crash at Taipei that resulted in Subhas Bose breathing his last in a Japanese military hospital, his cremation and the transfer of his ashes to Japan, where they remain till date. In a veritable tour de force, the book presents irrefutable, overwhelming testimonies from survivors of the crash, people who were at Bose’s bedside when he passed away, attendees at the cremation and couriers of the mortal remains to Tokyo and ultimately to its current resting place at Renkoji temple. Indian, Japanese and Taiwanese nationals unite to provide an unimpeachable and unanimous verdict. The publication decimates conspiracy theories; and questions successive Indian governments for ignoring the plaintive cry of Bose’s Austrian widow and economist daughter to apply closure to a needless and never ending controversy. "

Sunetra Choudhury started her career at The Indian Express in 1999, as a metro reporter. In 2000, as a recognition of her abilities she was sent for Japan’s Foreign Press Centre Fellowship by the paper. She became Indian Express’ youngest Deputy Chief Reporter at 24 and also brought out Newsline, the pull-out city section. In 2002, Sunetra joined the launch team of Star News, a 24-hour Hindi news channel. Within a year, she moved to NDTV. After the success of one of her assignments at NDTV, covering the 2009 election campaign, she authored Braking News. Sunetra anchors a daily, audience-based show called Agenda – the only out-of-studio show of its kind – and a primetime show on student leaders and elections. In April 2016, she got the Red Ink award for her story on how Indians were adopting disabled children.