Selective Facts, Convenient Omissions: Unpacking Shourie’s Take On Savarkar In New Book

Book Review

Did Arun Shourie, once a champion of the Hindu Right, apply the same rigorous standards to Savarkar that he demanded of others in his seminal work "Eminent Historians"?

The book review by Apratim Tripathi exposes glaring omissions and selective sourcing in Shourie's latest book 'The New Icon: Savarkar and the Facts'.

Drawing from previously unexplored material in the National Archives, the critique challenges Shourie's portrayal of Savarkar as a British collaborator, revealing a more complex figure who simultaneously supported revolutionary activities while under colonial surveillance.

The review asks: Can Shourie's work meet his own benchmark for historical scholarship?